The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time: Book I
by Habuki
Summary: Hey, I am revising and editing my old story, making it better and cutting it into three separate sections. First is book one which is from the beginning to when Link is imprisoned. Oh and I added a epilogue in Ganon's PoV after Link is imprisoned.
1. Prologue: Dream of Dreams

-1Prologue: A Dream of Dreams.

Copyright: I do not own Zelda, Nintendo does. Story by Habuki Productions.

Before life began, before the world had form, three golden goddesses descended upon the chaotic land of Hyrule. The goddesses were Din the goddess of Power, Naryu the goddess of Wisdom, and Farore the goddess of Courage. Din, with her strong flaming arms, cultivated the land to create the earth. Naryu poured her wisdom onto the earth to give the spirit of law to the world. Farore's rich soul created all life forms that would uphold the law. These three great goddesses returned to the heavens, leaving behind the gold sacred Triforce. Since then, the Triforce has become the basis for Hyrule's providence, and where the Triforce stood become sacred land.

Fear. It is a phenomenal feeling, isn't it? For one's self- consciousness to shatter into thousands of pieces spiraling into the pit of hell, and to be able to perform this act of persuasion is very much incredible. Humans sometimes slow their emotions mistaking fear for another unorthodox feeling that is curiosity. The unknown ponders humans because he thinks only of himself, yes, it's also a blend of selfish pride. Seated along with curiosity makes up the substitute for true accusation of fear, the true part is always mistaken at some point in time, even by animals. Instinct is what the animals want, yet when humans revert, and see the fear in their eyes; they revert back to the instincts as the animals did.

Let it be explained just what this ear-shattering feeling that has been mistaken for thousands of years is, the name fear, coming from the Greek root meaning 'half-alive.' This is explained how when truly met with fear half of the human is alive, sometimes a glimpse of true fear is met when the so-called 'life occurrences' appear. For it is nothing to fret because, fear is the way and guidance for all of us; it shows us the right and wrong paths in this life and maybe the next. Significant to the appearance of fear is pain, which also is not the same, pain is suffering which would be a synonym to fear, but whey are far from alike to each other. Some are so similar, yet others recognize the others with fear, yet most are mistaken when they try to find the real meanings of them.

Fear is that burning sensation you get inside the bottom region neither of your mouth, the dry raspy realization of death, not at all like life experiences, nor like the other experiences explained in this speech. Back to the matter, fear is when death is upon you and it will not go away, death and fear are more compatible, but still different. Death is quick and easy while the fear would be slow and painful, the figure of death loving the feelings that flow through the mind. Torture; almost would be a nice reference as to other means of punishment, sometimes the one being innocent, other times not. This seems to have nothing to do with the following material, but just let it be into reference, that what this boy fears is not death, nor is it fear, it is a moral mentality. A scary thing, indeed, but this is to show you what the emotion the young boy feels in the following dream.

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Giant swirls of darkness over veiled the once pure land, the source of evil seemed to be dwelling from a bittersweet course, the large block of mentality in the ground, and planted onto was a flag, showing the portrait of three triangles pressed together. A holy aura that surrounded the castle instantly flashed away by the presence of a darker aura, the one of evil, an unsure energy about. The present one that conquered all of this old land, the once Holy Land was masquerade, crusaders of evil dancing around the bonfires.

Screams and murmurs of fear escaped the land, seeming to have infiltrated the once purified land with a lustful evil, the evil shot out in the area. Surrounding the forest, the ever so still purified land emitted another light, just as the same, but this time the light stayed, reflecting in full colours. Shining ever so brightly until it formed the shadow of a boyish figure surrounded by another flow, fluorescent aquamarine, with a pair of insect-like wings. The land, evil and unfulfilled quieted for this figure, a name printed across it in beautiful landmarks which read, 'Hero of Time.'

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The scene seems to disappear from the mind of it, reclining to another request, this time not so symbolic, but a little more visual. The figure of a lad seen from the last appearance seems to have taken a more requested view, his clothes matching that of the dream. Turquoise hat landed onto of the boy followed by the same matching tunic, all in matching colours, attached was the blade, a sweet sincere one. Innocence and justice, was the aura that circled the warrior, not at all one-inch of evil planted into his heart, his mind clean from the evil. Yet that didn't seem to stop him from conquering evil, to get rid of it without it consuming his insides, eating it out for eternity, nothing penetrated it.

A mystical being, he was, but in all the same, it was a nice picture of all, the reflection of him being displayed for all that would watch. The clouds swirled all around a giant stone structure, followed by the bridge pulled all the way down, and there was the turquoise paired lad. The dagger of some sort replaced in that hand of his, and he could feel it, the trembling echoing through his body, the pain of the journey. Adventures courage, and protection, but enough for the boy, the boy was through with his journey, it was time to take the source of evil down. There was something different about it.

An aquatic-coloured figured scenario hovering over him. Butterfly-like wings surrounded the majestic cerulean figure, blue, as the sky would be without this horrible rounding. The boy pushed back the cap once more before a sudden neigh sprang from the area, turning his attention back towards the stone pillars and not so much the background. It seemed the time had come, before looking up towards the neigh, a beast sprang off with the up-brink hoof beats, and gazing forward he saw the holy mare jump on by before another holy blue light instrument sailed into the waters below.

This was it: the hovered above figure had all of the lust and evil scribbled into one. A man plated in dark midnight armour along with the steed. It was also an impure colour, and just staring up at the tanned figure sent spiraling shivers down his spine. No audio was revalued in this scene, but by the actions seen the man was angry and frustrated, even more when the boy shook his head in some sort of comply.

Circulating iron gloved digits upon the man's hand cupped together, just one, before a small chi light came out, even thought bright as day it extracted demonic feelings, making the dark clouds feel alone. Before the boys shield could comply with a blocking motion out the light of chi sprayed surrounding the boy and pouncing on, not that blocking would have helped him. Convulsions, along with a screech of pain, surrounded the boy's body in a monstrous rage, his sword dropping down on the ground, making all his adventures seem endless. Yes, there was nothing to do except make the pain come, take it in full, so that one day it might disappear from him, and end the pain.

Pain and impurity engulfed the once purified boy's body; the extreme pain followed by fear, the fear was taking its place once more. Yes, fear this is were it all connects together, with fear, but before the over expelled fear could strike with its accomplice, death. The clouds hovered down over the impure boy and a small-brightened firefly sending them down in a swirl of souls, the long screeches causing his ears to bleed. No one was there to stop the pain, nothing was there to calm the screeches, and nothing would stop him from dying at the hands of it. Cries of terror and unhappiness at all poked his elven appearance ears of his once more before the cloudiness shut down. Inside the spiral of fear echoed the once forth- young innocence shattering within every other new scream echoing.

Even after the torturous event a loud piece of laughter is heard from the only present world of this forbidden dream sequence, too frightening for words to explain all that would happen was fear. It was a tremendous sound echoing only throughout minds of those that were visible, although there were none around to experience this. Flurries of powerful contradictory circles kept flowing inside the terrible globe remembering the destruction of a land never established in ones mind. There it was the land of no returning thought, destroyed, and sending shivers down the spine tingling ensemble, the warrior discriminated for the time being. Nothing was safe now, the land would be eaten up from bacteria, and the man from the desert claiming what he wanted a triangle.

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Outside of this world a giant guardian is watching this dream, but its form was not a particular one of a keeper, the form of a tree. Then again maybe he was, and about in the length, a two hundred feet long tree that's trunk reached up farther than seen in the sky. The protector top branches were aligned in a tremendous filled together gap so that no light went through it, but around it circled in the air. Mentioning the air, small dots of light surrounded the tree in a Holy Grail fashion; maybe the tree could have been a holy god of something.

Finally a voice sounded out of the powerful tree, a deep, but conscious voice, one that could inspire ones self-ambition, just as deep as tall it was. The guardian was speaking to no one at all. It seemed if you looked into a closer stance there was something or maybe someone aside the tree, and yes it was, a small swirling dot, not at all like the others. The one seemed to move at reflexes like any other living thing, but the small swirling dot was a good distance away. Finally after some anticipation the tree spoke out, loud and booming speech.

"In the vast, deep forest of Hyrule. Long have I served as the guardian spirit and I am known as the Deku Tree. The children of the forest, the ancient Kokiiri, live here with me, and every Kokiiri has his or her own guardian force. However, there is one boy who does now have one guardian farie." There was a small, ample shiver showing the picture of the same boy in the dream, hence forth curled up on a small wooden bed with no cover except ones behind him. Seeing the shiver was of chills or just that of fright, we wouldn't know for quite some time, all we knew that the boy had no one with him, nothing to protect him. No force that the tree spoke of was with him, the place dusty from not having been cleaned in the longest time, and it didn't seem to bother him. Again the setting changed once more back to the tree's forest arena, where sparkles were all around, maybe the fireflies making their daily routines.

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"Navi. Oh, Navi, where art thou? Come hither."

Springing from within the tree was the same small sparkle it was resided, Navi, floated over towards the tree, the veiled thing carrying wings. It was seen that the little dot was wearing a veil over it's entire body, but with two insect-type wings springing out of the blue barrier, used to fly, it seemed. Flying over towards the tree, the thing was silent; its composure kept the place that maybe this was the master of the domain. Keeping its silence was quite respectful, that made this tree seem even more and more like a god, or at least a spirit of the forest, either one holding the most respect.

"Oh, Navi the farie, listen to my words, the words of the Deku Tree. Dost thou sense it? The climate of evil is descending upon this realm and malevolent forces that is new mustering to attack out at the land of Hyrule. For so long the Kokiiri Forest, the source of life, has stayed as a barrier, blocking outsides and restraining the order of the world."

"Yes, Great Deku Tree, I do sense the power that dwells inside of this forest and outside in the great land of Hyrule." Judging from the voice technique it was shown that Navi, the farie, was a female of gender, now we know the barrier was just a cover-up, for those not supposed to see her? Scared of outsiders seeing its true form, then the rest of the sparkles around the area were maybe the same species of them, a fairie. The fairies were a very extraordinary race, but from this place they seemed to be down on the ladder, having such small bodies and a boss. Each other fairie kept its mouth shut, unless it was spoke too, but most of them were crowded around the Deku Trees, the stray ones.

"But before this tremendous power of evil my own is nothing aside weak. It seems the time has come for the boy without a farie to begin his journey, fly Navi, the boy whose destiny is to lead Hyrule into an age of gold. This lad can fulfil this so that the land will be in truth and justice to live onto greater days. Navi! Go now! Find the young hero and lead him to me, be this guide, for I only have to little time left. Fly out, Navi, fly, the fate of the forest, nay, the world depends on thee."

"Yes, Great Deku Tree, I will fulfill your request." The small farie took off with a spark of speed, sprinkles emitting from within the barrier and swirling around, and even though so fast, the little farie was still slower than most creatures at flying. That didn't mean it was too slow, after leading down the mountain carved corridor, past the plants and such a village came into view, and what one it was. Most of the houses, well the majority of them, all carved from wood and placed on the ground, there were bridges leading from some of the houses to higher ground where some of the Kokiiri lounged around or worked. Maneuvering through a small bridge, the young fairie bopped her head upon the wooden fence, giving a growl at the wonder of it, then going back out. Keeping the flying lower, she slipped through the small gate and kept her pace at a slower one, to avoid any more little accidents.

Sprinting in the air past the children, waving back to each other she passed, Navi continued on her journey past move of the houses and the delicate training center. This was where some of the children trained in the art of fighting or just to keep up in tiptop shape, although none of them ever really fought. Moving all the way to the end of the forest, she passed a small house resided inside of a tree, a tree house it was called, the only one in the whole forest. Every other place was on the ground, it was weird that one person would build a house here, or it could be he was an outsider, outcast by the rest. Maneuvering through the ladder at the top, the farie went up to the top of the house entering through the window looking for the young boy.

Indeed he was there, but this boy, not much older than ten, was asleep in the bed cover now pulled all the way across head so he was seeping through the cover into the bed like quicksand. The other children woke up at about six in the morning, did their morning chores, since there were no grown-ups in the village and kept up until late that night. Something was weird here, the boy looking like he had just gone to sleep a few hours ago, when everyone else was supposed to have been asleep he may have been up. Every other Kokiiri was up at this time, but the boy had abnormal sleep patterns, making her way up to him, she landed on top of the covers speaking.

"Hello, Link, wake up." There was no response so the now impatient farie once again tried to wake him up, and the fairie was known to be a little impatient, wanting her way. "Link, the Great Deku has summoned you, get up now, Link!" It seemed the boy wasn't responding to anything, and so lazy, so maybe she would have to take the direct approach and do something worthwhile. She took the strong approach by surrounding him, flying back and forth, brightening the barrier so it illuminated the entire room brighter than it had every been, then shouted.

"Can Hyrule's destiny depend on such a lazy boy! Come on and get up!" Finally, she pulled the cover up off of his face, yanking it off hard, so that it flew across the room and fell upon the floor, making him shiver.

Small digits upon hands pulled the cover back in a bountiful manner before he sat up all the way, well propping up at the most, waking up to his fulfillment. With a long yawn the boy's eyes peered open, staring at what had possibly awoken him from his sleep, he wasn't supposed to be up for a while now. The boy was so young that he really didn't have many chores, except keeping his own house clean (which didn't work out most of the time.) Blonde tresses of cornstalk now covered his face and those long elven ears, before brushing them away and pushing self up producing a very long yawn. Well, another yawn produced through his lips, staring out at the roof, there just as he said that, he turned his attention towards the person who awoke him.

"Hmm? Who are you, Miss Farie?" Very polite, he was and glanced at the little farie with every-crescent sky-blue hues, those eyes peering down at her, quite confused.

"Finally you awaken! I am Navi the Farie, and the Great Deku Tree has asked me to be your partner from now on. It is nice you meet you, but down to business, the Great Deku Tree has summoned you, so let us get going." She was one to be impatient and tapped her foot solemly, looking around a little bit.

Those beautiful eyes swelled up in excitement as he leapt from the bed, shirtless, and in a pair of long green boxer related undergarments. He cried out in pure joy, wrapping his arms around the small farie, pressing her up against his bare chest, not very muscular. The boy was not scrawny or heavy, and giggling sweetly he fell upon the floor with her inside his palms, caressing the girl very much.

Well, it was quite a surprise to him having a fairie and to the fairie whom was being touched in ways she had never been touched before. "I've gotten a farie? Yippee!" The boy had never had one of his own, so this was quite a surprise and a joy to receive one, now he would be excepted, quite a joy. Mido would just have to accept him!

"Whoa, slow down there, what is all the excitement about. Oh, yeah, you've never had a farie before, have you?" Of course that would have excited him and with the gentle touch from him as she was held, she soon returned to nice embrace. When cupped in his hands, she began to flutter and glow bright to glow inside of his hands, a bluish light at all. It all illuminated a warm between his fingers that only she could give with that aquamarine veil. Besides, she rather liked the attention he was very sweet, something that she had never been shown, or if she did it had been so long that she'd forgotten. Being with him seemed like it was going to be a lot more fun than she imagined; not so stuck up as some of the fairies she was used to being near.

After a few minutes, the boy pulled away from the bed, setting her down, and walked to his chest drawer's section of the tree house pulling out that green tunic, along with the hat. Next followed him sitting down and slipping on the tradition cloth-made brown Kokiiri boots, both part of the suit, and finally the belt made of leather with a golden buckle slipped on along the waist firmly held. On a side note, the tunic had a dress kilt falling down instead of the other shorts, worn by males, maybe it was a joke or the girls made the clothing and liked the way he looked. Smiling and straightening long cap that fell just past his shoulders, Link pulled a bag of rubies inside a large wallet and hung at his side. The tree house was only one ever, so not much there. Just some drawing equipment, a kitchenette, and a small bath tub. Gathering up an apple, he headed out nibbling upon it. The young lad walked over to the outside of the house taking a large deep breath of the Kokiiri fresh air.

It was a sweet and sincere scent indeed, with a flavor of that forest small, but not so much the nasty, hasty smell, something he was used to. Walking forward a few steps, the boy looked down towards the ground and what he saw made his heart skip a few beats. There she was the wise and beautiful Saria, the Kokiiri girl, wise beyond her age and with the looks of a child a little older than he is. With flowing turquoise locks flowing just past the shoulder area, her fashion looked a little manlier than his were, sad as it was. Clothes were the same colour as his, but not a tunic, it was more of a green sweater with shorts, aligned a belt with matching boots, all the same colour as the tunic.

The first thing the little girl did was look up with those deep mahogany hues and let out a loud giggle before calling out his name. It seemed the boy had a deep affectionate crush on her, but she didn't seem to mind at all, it was just she didn't feel the same way? It wasn't shown at all, but the important thing was those two were the best of friends, and that will come into effect a little later in this story. The girl's affections were hidden deep with in, maybe masked with a deep reflection she used upon people, to keep them from worrying? Saria looked up upon him once more, and, noticed the farie. He had a farie! She cried out in happiness.

"Yoo-hoo! Hi Link! Come on down and let me see your new friend!" It was that little green-haired girl who spoke this; she was really one of the only people he would hang out with.

With the small farie perched upon his shoulder, she just watched how the boy handled himself, and it seemed he wasn't doing a great job. It seemed the two had some little bond, or just a first- worn crush or something in the matter, but it seemed to be one-sided since she wasn't the nervous one. She didn't mind, nah, this was his life after all, and fairies weren't supposed to invade in their partner's personal lives, it was just annoying. It wasn't like she liked the boy that way, they were partners and partners they would remained until the very end, or until they were done with whatever the Deku Tree wanted. So she looked back at Link urging him to hurry upon, they had to go see the Great Deku Tree; after all, it was rude to keep the master waiting.

Link turned around at the Deku bleached ladder scaling it all the way down, sliding it down in a few seconds instead of climbing down. Such a dangerous move was stupid, for he could of probably tripped on the ladder and broken a leg, rendering him useless for the Deku Tree. When he turned around Saria ran up to him, wrapping her arms around his neck, giving him a tight hug, the boy melting in a figurative sense. Another giggle escaped turning towards her eyesight, very well seeing the farie that he had, and the excitement was rushed even more. Placing her hands into a clapping gesture, in a single bound with an excited little glee in her voice, the chiming sound beautifully sounding.

"Link, you finally have a farie! I am so excited for you, Link, now you can become a true Kokiiri, and hopefully Mido won't torture you anymore. Mm-hmm, you can finally be equal." As great as that sounded, the older girl did have doubt in her heart--the others might, but he wouldn't.

"I hope you are right, Saria, but I sadly doubt whatever I do will change his mind. Then again, you never know… Oh! I do have a farie now." Mido was the oldest of the Kokiiri, but the wisest, well maybe in his own little world he was the most mature, yet he seemed to favor right behind Link. Mido was the boss around here, or so he claimed, the most manipulative so he was awarded the chair thanks to the handiwork of everyone else. He was very immature and teased Link for one main reason, Saria, the only reason was that, except the fairie cracks every now and then. Yes, he craved attention from her, but was rewarded with nothing, since she teased the young Link and bossed the rest of them.

"So, why are you up so early. For you it is. I mean you are usually up near the middle of the day from now. Does this farie have anything to do with your sudden awaken?" Her voice sounded interested, as she was.

"Actually, yea, she came to me because I was summoned by the Great Deku Tree. Her name is Miss Navi and she is my official partner...she--" Navi, clearing her throat, cutting him off a little; she didn't need a speech for her arrival, she would announce herself, without the need for introductions. She had heard of Saria before, the wisest of the Kokiiri, and spoke in full intention, not holding back any of her feelings.

"Yes, the Great Deku Tree has summoned Link, but we must be going now, Saria. It is a great matter that this boy has to take care of. You understand, right?" Of course the girl showed her enthusiasm, she wanted to leave her and get going with this mission.

"Well, sure I do, Miss Navi. Link, come see me when you are done, I'll be waiting her for you, so you had better go on and hold your meeting with the Great Deku Tree." The answer actually surprised the farie, it seemed that the rumors were true, she really was nice and wise, with not a dishonest bone in her body. Smiling, the farie perched deeper into Link's shoulder before the boy nodded.

"Alright, I will you later, Saria. Come on, Miss Navi, let's go." With that the boy took off walking towards the Deku Tree's domain, his mind clear that he had his friend's blessing, so whatever happened he would do in good hands. Having confidence in himself was sort of hard, yet with her backing him up; he always seemed to have more the reason to get on.

He started off by passing his house and next to it was Saria's house, living next door was convenient, because she could go home and wait if she wanted too. Stepping past her house he came upon the twin's house, they were two girls that lived in the same house, sort of nice in Link's eyes. They were the only identical twins in the whole forest, Sati and Hati, but when he passed the house no one was there so moving along he did. Next up was the small stream, it was a little deeper than usual from the rainfall that came a few days ago, so walking along the sides until he reached the shop. The only place with a red roof, on top of the roof was someone, a little girl. It was Sati, the twin was sitting on the roof, why was one of the reasons, yet she was known to be the weirder of the twins, so it was expected.

"Hey, Link! Up here on the roof!" The older girl giggled, kicking her feet from where she sat, looking over at him with those eyes of blue, it wasn't that she liked him very much, the girls were just nicer. All of the children were older than him, of course, so they naturally thought of him as a little boy, which he was since most of them were hundreds of years older. Now her hair a darker shade of orange than his was, his being a more blonde and hers more the colour of the sun, so it was easy to distinguish them.

Never the less, it was a bit longer, with it falling down to her shoulders. She wore a light green dress with the same dainty boots as Saria. Actually this girl was one of the nicer girls in the forest; all of the others didn't like him very much. Turning around towards her, Navi went up also circling her, turning a darker shade of blue than usual.

"You have a farie, wow. I am so excited for you. Hey, using the farie you can target people, like me up here and talk to them. Anyway, I heard the Great Deku Tree has summoned you. You better hurry up and miss Mido; he is guarding the post today and might not let you in. Go on now!"

"Oh, thanks Miss Sati, tell your sister that I said 'hi'." Saying his goodbye, the boy wondered over to the rocks and hopping across each of them, his thoughts peering from on his own destination. Talking fall away was a nice advantage, but he realized how was he able to hear her from so far away, shrugging it off. Must be that the fairies could carry sound waves or something, yea that must have been it, since she was about twenty feet in the air. The blocks were a lot bigger than he was; only being three was they were coloured an ash-like painting that Mido had specialized with the center have a small block in it.

When the boy hopped across the third one and back on the ground a sparkle appeared from the sky while a large blue ruby appeared in his hands, eyes illuminating at the money. "Wha?"

"Oh, no one told you? That is a special trick to earn rubies, the blues ones are worth five and the greens are worth one each. If you are wondering, there are the red rubies, rare, but worth 20 rubies each, purples are worth 50 each and finally the ancient silver ones are worth 100 rubies each." Navi poured that information out from upon the hat, before coming back onto his shoulder, placing her down into it now, and being so informative. "Let's continue on, Link."

"…Wow, thanks for the information, Miss Navi." Next, he hopped across a few large rocks, keeping his balance not to fall off as he kept going across the rocks as to not damping his boots. Missing the fun of wetting his boots, but there was no time to deal with that he was on a mission of his own now, keeping fun out of the way. Running across it later, he saw the large meadow opening, moving past the gates and moving down inside of the place, hands crossed at his chest. The huge meadow was just past the boy that guarded it and just his luck Mido had gotten there to take the post from Luki, another boy who disliked him, but would let him through if Mido wasn't there.

Walking over towards Mido he placed his hands onto of his sides, speaking out now, trying to keep the confidence level at a high rate. "Mido, I don't want trouble, so just let me through."

The Kokiiri boss despised this boy for frankly that Link had all of Saria's attention spend on him, and none on Mido, broiling his blood. The older Mido was deeply in love with her and since those two always hung out together, he was always jealous of the friends. Well, the only thing he loved more than Saria was his ego, but Saria really despised Mido for what he had done to Link a long time ago. A grudge was held and never broken, even as much as he apologized to Saria, never even making an attempt to apologize to the victim.

The second reason he didn't like Link was because he didn't have a farie. Every Kokiiri was assigned a farie at birth until something happened to him or her or the farie was killed in some horrible way. A farie of Navi's colour floated across Mido was quiet, it seemed no other faries talked much to other Kokiiri, aside Navi that is.

"It's Mr. Mido! Now, you expect me to let you through, you mangy mutt. I am not that stupid as the others are, now get out of here before I kick your scrawny little ass." His muscles seemed to bulge a little bit, even though against a taller form he'd lose, but Link wouldn't be a challenge.

"…You're not in charge of the forest, Mido." The young boy had his boundaries; he knew not what to overstep and kept calm in the situation.

"…Shut up and leave." Replied the boss Kokiiri in a sneering tone, clutching those fists as if ready to strike him.

"I-I can't do that, Mido, the Great Deku Tree has summoned me now, and I have to be on my way to see him. Please, just this once, please won't you let me through." Link looked up at him: the freckled boy was just a bit larger than he, with the darker hair as Sati's was, except his was shorter than both of theirs. Clothes were almost as Link's aside the fact he wore shorts and the sleeves on his suit were a bit shorted than Links', and the cap was shorter on Mido, the boy having a bit more power too. Yes, the boy worked out here and at the training center so he would be considered one of the most powerful Kokiiri, no one could beat him, yet he wasn't buff. What Mido had was power, using that to assign fear into the other children, except that of Saria and now Link, whom thought he was an idiot.

"You expect me to believe that, you idiot, you don't even have a farie! Oh, well, it seems you have a farie, well that proves nothing! You are probably holding the stupid thing ransom so you will get something in return. Never have you lain eyes on the Great Deku Tree and never will you. I will make sure of that." Watching the fairie with some content--he was surprised that anyone had resided with him--all the fairies were commanded to leave the boy alone, from the Deku Tree himself.

_Stupid?_ That angered the little farie so she steamed up and raced towards his face, circling him ad loudly began to curse in her native tongue, showing the other farie backing away frightened a bit. Mido just swatted her away utterly missing, this was because the faries were not fast on flying speed but when it came to dodging abilities and evasion, they were the fastest in the Hyrulian World. Nothing compared to that, and a little Kokiiri's fist was not going to harm the girl, who continued to dab infront of it, cursing harsher in the language. Link just looked off to the side, not saying anything, nor understanding it, yet from the look upon the other fairy's face it wasn't nice.

"Come on, Mido, I need to see him. It is a matter of urgency, can't I do anything to get us through?" His patience was thinning, though he did keep his composure, chuckling a little at Navi's actions.

He considered this for a long while before nodding his head once in tolerance, all right, maybe the boy needed to or would be killed by a Deku Baba later on. "Yes, I'll let you pass, but at least properly equip yourself with a sword and a shield. Get the hell out of here before I change my mind, now go on child."

"Thank you, Mido." Blood curdled saying those simple words to the Kokiiri boss this was because he did too despise Mido as much as the boy loathed him. It was a mutual feeling in both areas, the boy not having a grudge against the older boss at first, yet not liking him, but now he didn't like the boy at all. He was just too stuck up, granted the power by the Deku Tree, yet taking the power and using it to his own good, not what the tree had wanted.

Turning around, Link walked back towards the stepping stones which he hopped around equivalently once before another ruby landed in his palms, making himself forty rubies at the spot this time. _A shield might be in the store, if not we can always look around._

When they were a good whiles away, the boy stared back at her, a confused look plastered on his face, holding back the giggles from the expressions the other fairie made. "Just what did you say?"

"You saw that look on her face, Link, what do you think?" As serious as she was trying to be, she giggled a little bit, shrugging her shoulders somewhat.

"Words Saria taught me never to say…the ones Mido uses sometimes?" Sometimes was an understatement, the man was a dirty-mouth, and more than often the language was pointed in his direction.

"Exactly I hate that boy, Link, you should stick up for yourself. Back to the mission, the shield would be in the shop for right about forty rubies. You have that many?" She really hadn't been counting, so she went and asked.

"Yup, just enough." Just to be sure, his fingers went through the bag and strummed through the rubies, caressing them as a gambler does his die.

"Alright, well the sword maybe somewhere, but I am just as confused as you. Maybe Saria knows something, she has been around longer than both of us." An older and more respected elder would be better, especially since Navi was convinced that since Link and Saria was friends--she could be trusted.

Pressing the door open by pulling the knob forward, and turning it, he opened the door all the way before stepping inside. It was a very traditional little shop while they sold Deku nuts; sticks, arrows, and heart containers, but occasionally they had a new item for a limited time. There newest product was a Deku shield made of the finest deku wood and spliced with a red painting mark, an old runic of the old language, possibly meaning protection. Moving to the counter, he took out his ruby wallet, which could hold ninety-nine in all and pulled out forty rubies, placing them upon the counter.

Eight blue rubies, he had, and that went out to forty rubies, exactly, he had no use for any other money, since the food was free here, so he did give the stuff up without regret. "Yes, I would like a Deku Shield, please."

A short little Kokiiri ran the shop, and the man nodded walking over to the displayed counters taking off the shield, only to be replaced another Kokiiri in record time. It seemed they didn't want to run out of those things, so the shield was back in its place, a new one that was, and the place ready for more business. When he was handed the shield, another item went with it, a black strap with two golden hooks, the thing looked like something out of an old story.

He didn't quite know how it went, yet he could guess that it was so the shield could be taken out without the thing getting tangled. "This goes on the shield so you can strap it to your back, young man."

"Ah, well, thanks." Turning around from the counter, he strapped the shield to his back, walking over to the mirror and studying it fully, and it was very nice indeed, making the shield strap to his back for protection and easy access and better handling. Looking through the fitting mirror, the young boy grabbed the shield, practicing grabbing it quickly, and with in a few minutes he had it down. Leaping for joy, she boy spun around to see how it would look, practicing how to dodge things, loving the feel of it on, how it felt. Making him feel like a true warrior, the boy nodded to the man, who smiled at him, before turning back to his little fairie with a grin.

"How do I look, Miss Navi?" He didn't ask the little man, he was working with another customer.

"Link, you look just like a hero." The farie giggled landing back upon his shoulder, still watching quietly now, her mind wandering back to something more important. Where was a sword at when you needed it? This was going to be very hard, since she had never seen a sword in here, she heard of one from legends, yet that was just a legend. She turned towards him, and shook her head sadly before taking another deep breathe and spoke towards him staring at the handsome frame, shield upon his back, again.

"Now, to Saria." Yes, maybe the older and wiser Saria would know, if anyone else knew they wouldn't tell, and maybe Mido knew; yet he wouldn't share the information.

Nodding in response, the two partners headed back over out of the shop and trailed back to the entrance of the twin's house, neither still there. Shrugging a shoulder at it he walked back the rest of the way, repeating the trail back to Saria's house, catching him another fairie on his way back. Well, it was nice to be here, the place of his own in the way, wandering towards his house to check for her, hoping she was there. Finally stopped at the house and saw the older girl was sitting upon his ladder now, looking down at some instrument inside of her palms. A flute it seemed to be, and more beautiful one at that, made of some beautiful deku wood as he gazed at it, eyes fixed upon it.

"…Saria?" Gasping, her attention reformed from the Ocarina back up towards him, quickly placing it back into her bag and took off from the ladder, walking over towards him, hands clapped together. From the way she acted, the thing was a memento, or just so sacred that no one else could see it, sort of hurting the boy's feelings. He'd heard the flute whenever he had followed her into the Lost Woods, yet she always put it back down where it belonged before he got close enough to see it. Asking about it, she would just shrug a shoulder, telling him that it was hers, she didn't know how long she had had it, and the songs she played he loved.

"How did it go? Oh, that shield makes you look so handsome, Link." Giggling, she looked down at him, just a gazing at the little guy with her own eyes fixed on him now, the boy shrugging a loose shoulder.

"Um, Mido wouldn't let me pass without a sword and a shield, so I bought a shield at the local shop, but a sword, I don't have any idea where it could be. Do you know, Saria?"

Frowning at Mido's actions, she growled a little more before turning back at his questions and solemly shaking her head back and forth in disappointment. "I'm sorry, I just don't know either, but maybe the Know- it-all-Brothers know. All I can tell you is that the blade is over fifteen hundred years old, made by the Goddess Farore with all her blessings towards the forest. It is made of pure silver and literally indestructible. Oh, also it can't be refined in any way. A jewel is placed in the middle that prevents outsides from using it, the jewel is red and the hit is made of gold and that seems like a lot, though I can't say where the location is, I haven't an idea."

"Thanks for your help, Saria. I will be back as soon as I can with or without victory towards the Great Deku Tree, then I will tell you all about it." Smiling, he gave her a large hug, then looked aside flushing, twirling a foot in the dirt in nervousness, before turning back to her and showing a V for victory sign. That was when him and his guardian walked away from the house and looked around for the Know-it-all-Brothers, him detesting the walk.

Well, just past his house was the training center and on top of the hill was the center was the Know-it- all-Brother's house. They were a set of triplets, all alike, and all of them were snobs, none of them were liked by anyone, aside Mido, who seemed to not appreciate them either. Thinking they were smarter than anybody else was, aside Mido...they are the second oldest, after all, comparing to everyone as gods. They also didn't like him, so he figured he would get no help from them, so turned his attention away.

"Link...at least try them, they maybe in a good mood." Personally, her view had never came upon the triplets, so she hadn't an idea of their attitude.

"Your right, I need to try." It certainly wouldn't hurt to help; the worst that would happen was that they would get yelled at.

Yes, a he trailed up the hill, all the way, and stopped a few feet from a pretty large-size house, admiring the marksmanship. Him and Saria had made his house, some of the girls helping, yet none of the boys even contributing any lumber, nor an axe or any kind. Now Mido, the brothers and all the other boys made this one, and it certainly showed, the girls probably helping. The house was quite beautiful, made by the triplets themselves, and moving into the doorway, he knocked upon the deku-made door. Everything was made of Deku, since these woods were only Deku, there were other woods somewhere, he had heard of them from the stories, yet he could only imagine.

"Come in!" Three unsigned voices spoke at once, yea the Kokiiri's voices were all deep, the men anyway, his was the only guy's that was feminine.

"Okay, it's Link!" His hands creaked upon its hinges as they slipped around the doorknob, hoping his time wasted wasn't in vain.

"Link?" The brothers were cut off with the doorway opening and Link walking inside moving towards the center of them, standing in the center. The three each had their own space, one was at the top of the circular house, and the other two were at the other two sides. The top was Liki, the left side was Miki, and the right side was Hiki, the rhyming names was sort of annoying, but there was nothing he could do about it. Link walked over towards Liki and spoke, calming his nervousness down and just speaking his mind, determined to get this sword.

"Mr. Liki, I need some help finding the sword." His voice actually contained sincere in it and he smiled a little towards the three of them.

"…Sword, the Kokiiri sword?" Of course, Mido was way ahead of Link; he had visited Link just a few minutes before and told them to not tell him where the sword was. The three didn't know, but they were not to guess either, they were just as frightened of Mido as the rest of them, not even considering the circumstances. If they all combined their powers, the group could have taken Mido down from his reign, yet the Kokiiri were never that smart, or at least some. Saria didn't care if Mido was in power, she was never really one of the power-hungry types, she was just happy with the way things were. She was the gentle soul who didn't care about anything like politics; she only cared for nature and a few people, mainly Link since she didn't get along with any of the girls.

"We don't…" chimed Liki.

"…Know where the sword…" added Miki

"…Is Link, and we don't care." finished Hiki

Navi inched up towards his ear and spoke quietly so that the two of them couldn't hear what she said. "Why are they speaking together."

"Because they are triplets. They have a way that is co--" He was about to say that the speech was confusing, his speech was immediately interrupted.

"You have..." snorted Hiki

"…A nice farie, there…" nodded Miki

"…Link, what's her name?" Questioned Liki

"Her name is Miss Navi, Know-it-all Brothers. So, you don't know the sword's location?" He thought they probably did, of course, but he knew they would never tell him, the boy's were to big of snobs to help him. It was useless, and he knew it, the futile attempt was pretty pointless, something he knew from the beginning, yet he did it all for her.

The boy had just done it because he wanted to please Navi, the fairie was his first and probably his only fairie he would ever get. He wanted to please her to every extent there was in this world, it was like a weird bond had been established between them now. She made him feel quite excited, the only person to ever make him feel that way was Saria, and that was a good feelings to have.

"That's…" Began Liki.

"…Correct…" Continued Miki

"…Link." Finished Liki.

He couldn't take this anymore, and nodding his goodbye, he hurried out of the house, slamming the door shut and turning back towards her. "Weird, huh?"

"Very, those three must practice that." She could just imagine it and her little uneasiness had come out, a giggle coming from her mouth.

"Oh, Miss Navi!" He broke up in some giggles and patted her softly, a friendly little gesture that was given from one friend to another. "They can hear you, Navi!"

"Don't care, Link. They are a--bunch of snobs!" This last part she shouted, and was rewarded a loud scoff from three particular Kokiiris.

Shaking his head, Link turned towards the large hill and noticed he was only halfway up the hill, the place had seemed so large when he was younger. How time passed so quickly, his own eyes filling with the sweat dripping from his head, wiping it off easily, then turning back to climbing the hill. Wiping the sweat from his corn silken brow, he pushed the shield on his back, like a burden that was on his back seeming to become heavier. It was becoming heavier and heavier by this rate, he might need a break before they reached the top, but he wouldn't because he was not gonna be weak. Weaklings were what Mido thought he was, that wasn't what he was gonna do, he would prove that stuck-up jerk wrong, yes he would.

Walking up the hill to the top of it, he shook his head once more, before maneuvering back towards the center and resting his behind on a stump to think of where it could be? I mean somewhere in the Lost Woods or could it be somewhere else, like inside of the ground, buried in Farore's soil for all eternity? Or maybe a Skullkid had it; it had found the thing and decided that the blade was his, yet he doubted that because those creatures were nice to them. Not even knowing how to use a sword, the creatures would probably hit each other in the head or something, they weren't that smart either. Looking aside, he took his attention off of Navi, just closing his eyes and concentrating on thinking he was good at that, he would think of something.

Meanwhile, the farie, Navi had been quiet and quick to notice that in the center was a large stone covering something, like it had been placed there. First thing she did was fly away while he was thinking and slipping through a crack near the wall and what she found astounded her. It was a brand new landmass, the place was covered by a rock so that there was no where else to get through, except that small rock. It was giant with grass and other things streaming about, looking like it had been carved by hand, the girl flew to the back of the entrance seeing a treasure chest, wow, this was it!

She zoomed back over to and through the crack landing on Link's shoulder, giggling a lot, hardly able to contain herself now. "I think I found it, Linky! I found the opening where it is. Behind that stone!"

"Wow! Really? Thanks, Miss Navi." Smiling a little, the boy went down towards the stone and after a few grunts, picked the thing up flinging it across the center into the grassland. Yep, the boy was pretty strong for his age, but he just was too kind-hearted to ever use that kind of force, wishing sometimes that he could pound Mido. Panting from the big warm-up, the boy got down on his hands and knees, seeing the small hole just his size and began to crawl through. It led all the way until he reached the end, which he pulled his head through, staring through and glancing at the new area, amazed. Sitting up and looking forward before a giant rock just missed him by a couple of inches.

Gasping, he looked again after a few minutes until it passed the next time, he used tactics and ran behind it following it around until another path led up a small hill. Scaling that, he went forward until he saw a treasure chest. "You were right!"

"Yup, now let us go on and see what is in here so we may find the Deku Tree." She didn't know what the Great Deku Tree had planned, but whatever it was, it must have been special to choose a boy that had never seen him.

Stepping forward upon three smaller steps, he leaned forward pressing digits on top the rim of the chest and tanked it up as a small white glow emitted. Ha, she was right because sticking out of a sheath was the sword and in all its beauty, just as Saria had described, the glistening sword was all he needed. Pulling the strap, it came out easily enough and placing the sheath on his back, he pulled the sword out and began to play around with it. Being ambidextrous, he tried it in both of his hands, flicking the sword with each one, yet he found that the right hand was the best. It was easier than if he had been right-handed, because the other hand felt just as good, cursing how he could write with both hands.

The sword actually only took a few more slashes, but by then he got the hand of it, having used Deku sticks in swordplay for as long as he could remember. He let out a long giggle, re-slashing the air for more balance, and Saria was right that it was very lightweight, the blade wasn't heavy at all. Holding onto the hilt of the blade, he threw it into the air, catching it by the hilt once more, slashing the air once again, nodding to himself. Yes, it felt so good to do this and with that he did feel like a true warrior, one like in the stories he always read as a kid, feeling like them now. The blade of the Kokiiri was sheathed as he turned towards the farie, smiling lightly; strapping it to his back with that strap that came along.

"How do I look, now?" It was just another gesture, like with the sword, maybe his appearance had altered just a little bit.

"Hee, more handsome than ever!" Although the last time had just been courtesy, something in her now showed that she honestly believed it.

With that, the boy's cheeks crimsoned and he shrugged a shoulder shyly around towards her. "Nah, hee. Your just saying that…"

Breaking off into a run, Link evaded the boulder and made his way out of the hole, quickly replacing the rock back on its foundation. The Kokiiri boy, Lonki, looked back up at Link scoffing a little bit; he was one of Mido's goons, so he would probably report that Link was here. Most of the boys didn't mess with him either, unless Mido was around, which they used all their power to seem cooler. None of the girls just did care, they would never hurt Link, and they always called Mido a jerk for his doings, how no one liked him. It was true, but didn't affect the boy; he would just shrug it off as being a little unpopular by the boys and continue to tease him.

"What are you doing here, punk?" Mido's little crony smiled a grin at him, the other two cronies of Mido's were guarding the entrances to the Lost Woods and the outside world the boy was basically dressed like Mido, aside his hair covered most of his face, shaggily. These three people would pick on Link even when Mido wasn't around; they were just that mean and loved the feelings of such power. Each was still frightened by the older boy, yet they loved to exert their power to each other and loved to let out that they were the ones who hurt Link. Some stupid game, the other boys or girls weren't picked on, it was so weird that Link wondered who Mido picked on before he was alive.

"Um, I was--" Of course he was going to finish falsely, but Link was cut off by an angry farie at his side, preferably, Navi.

"None of your business! Link is on official business from the Deku Tree! So mind your business before you are reported!" That shook the little Kokiiri up and he nodded solemly at the farie and Link, but mostly Navi more than Link.

"Sure, Link, if it is for the Deku Tree, that's quite fine. Y-you can move along." With a small whimper, he went away as he scurried back to performing his training flips, keeping his distance from the spicy fairie.

Shocked, the young boy moved away from the pack, with a still mad farie, lowering his head a little until they were past the center and moving back down the hill. Heading past the rocks again, the sword ready for some action to show to Mido, the boy shrugged a small shoulder at the ground. It was embarrassing how she acted, yet he appreciated how she did it, she was sticking up for him just like Saria did, but in a weirder way. Meaner than ever, she made Saria seem like a nice girl when she wasn't mad, the Kokiiri could be vicious when she was mad. When they were about halfway to the Great Deku Tree, Link spoke up tenderly.

"Miss Navi, you didn't need to yell. I was just going to tell him I was looking for some rubies." Maybe he was scared, maybe he was stupid, probably a little of both was bottled up into his form.

Clearing her throat, she lowered upon his now and spoke up now. "Link, you need to stand up for yourself more often, and stop being such a wimp. If whatever the Deku Tree wants it is most likely going to be very tough and you need to stop taking their orders and everything they say. If you don't, I don't think you will do very good, basically I want you to stick up for yourself."

"Yes, ma'am." Nodding clearly, he cupped her inside of his hands, giving her a gentle hug, before continuing down the path towards where the Great Deku Tree, and maybe she was right, he needed to stop being such a baby and learn to act grown up.

_--------------------_

Standing against the wall was Mido, his eyes open and ever since peering looking for the boy, not really expecting him to come back. He surely doubted that idiot would find the Kokiiri blade since no one else knew about it, aside him and he had never told anyone else. Just in case someone decided to start a rebellion or something, that is, he would be able to take care of the resistance with the sword. Looking ahead once more, he saw him and looked widely, his own eyes almost bulging, if they could they would have fallen out. No way, he didn't'? How could he! When he got closer up, Mido began to laugh out loud, doubting the sword was there, that it had been his own imagination.

"Ha! You may have a shield, but you need--" cutting himself off, he started forward in a gaping manner at what was attached at the boy's shoulders, or sheathed at his back was that sword, the Kokiiri, but how. He knew all about it, he had seen it before.

"T-the Kokiiri Blade? Where the hell did you find that!"

"It was under a rock-" Somehow, with the place of teamwork, the boy had lifted the odds and defeated the boss of the Kokiiri.

"I know where it was! I-I errs! Just get out of my face! You may have a sword and a shield, but it takes real skill in battle to win anything for anyone, especially the Great Deku Tree. Go ahead and pass." As much as he wanted to stop it, if he stopped this, then word would come back that he was untrustworthy.

Letting out a squeal of joy, he passed by the frustrated Mido, but couldn't help but hear the mumbling Kokiiri and what he said was this: " How could this boy be in favor of the Deku Tree and the wise Saria? I just won't ever understand this world, where rejects become the fascination of all the land."

That was over and he maneuvered past the stricken Mido, he hadn't moved so Link had to slip past him, looking down the brown corridor. It looked Kokiiri-made, but it was carved from the earth as if someone took thousands of years using a spoon or something? Well, the place was very beautiful with very much peaceful with its lush green grass and the flowers sticking out of the ground. Staring the walk down the road, he smiled to his fairie once again before keeping his hand down on the hilt of the blade, ready to pull it out whenever the time was right. Hee, there was nothing to fear and nothing at all to be scared of, he was safe and sound and a sword seemed the least of his worries.

_--------------------_

Twenty minutes into the walk was the quietest, nothing at all, it was almost sad that he had gotten the sword, there was no need to use it. That's when he heard it, and only a fourth the way from the ending meadow, his elven ears should have picked up the sound earlier. For some reason the sound he didn't pick up, cursing his luck later on that if he had heard it, none of this mess would have ever happened. Then there was a sound that made him jump from his seat, or would have, when he heard the sound, cringing for his ears to not bleed. Just staring over towards ahead of him and saw nothing and what it was like slow motion as he heard the screech again.

_Kreahhh. _Curdling forward, the boy felt his own blood began to coil when the sound escaped from within no direction.

Spinning around in a fanciful motion, he saw what was a monster, but this thing was at least six feet tall, a plant and it looked carnivorous. The plant had a purple head, it swelled past relief, as purple lips stood open, making the sound a pair of razor sharp teeth shown along with the red tongue showing that it was hungry. No eyes were on it, showing it was blind and no nose, so he must have depended upon taste or maybe motion detecting? Just like a snake it probably could sense his heat whenever he did something, or just as he stood there, which freaked the boy out. Staring at the creature, that was a very weird creature at that, although he had never seen a monster in his entire life, the boy just froze.

_Krrreiiahhhhh. _More fury was pushed into this growl; the general direction was not put into any place at all.

Oh, that sound was louder and seemed even hungrier, and it must have just noticed him now because it turned towards him and screeched some unintelligible text. The sound was either in another language, the thing's own language, or it was some war cry that it gave before pouncing upon its food. Yes, he imagined that his life would be over, the courage he had just had, the confidence was gone in a matter of seconds disappeared forever. Crying out to no one in particular, wishing that this was just a dream he would wake up from in a sweaty bed, yes that was all he wished. He covered his hands over his head and fell to the ground, crying out loud...his life was over?

Not really, before he would die a small speckle slammed against the monster, knocking it back against the narrow corridor, knocking it out for a few seconds. Whirling back around, she wasn't through yet, because before it could come out again, the girl charged at the creature, knocking it across the face again. Well, that was enough for the creature, because the next time that she came, it slapped her away with the tentacle, crying out in fury. The creature recoiled and there its tentacles wrapped up around her, the speckle that was Navi, trying to save her partner now. She called out, with all her might, the tentacles beginning to crush her, not at all in a fast rate, but one that called for a slow and painful death.

"Link use your strength, you're inner power. Kill them!" The voice rang through his voice and there he looked around, wondering what she meant.

_Them! What does she…? Oh no! _Turning around, another had sprouted up from the ground and had its eyes set upon the little guy, basically his next meal was targeted at Link. Pressing his body up against the wall, he reached for the sword, but yanked out the shield instead, cursing his bad luck for all the time. There was no time to fret when he heard her cry or pain and help, so he turned towards the enemies, facing them with the sword held by the little impressions inside of it. Staring down at the enemies, hurting his little friend, the boy couldn't help but cry in fury that someone was trying to hurt his friend. It was weird, but he felt empowered, most powerful than he could ever be, even without a shield he felt that he could do it.

Jumping back and performing a back flip, he slammed the protecting Deku inside of the mouth of the monster, making the tentacle drop its prey, the little farie. Crying out in fury, the thing began to shake around in all directions, the tentacles slammed with the shield this time, it loosening the grip. It launched her on the other side of the wall, safe from the battle scene, but receiving a little damage on the way down, letting her get away from the scene. Letting out a growl, it threw the shield aside, but the shield slid across the boy's leg, slicing it, giving him the worst splinter ever. Fuming out a cry, he turned around with a look of determination upon his mark. That was when the young hero drew his blade, thinking what Navi had meant by some inner power.

_Trust yourself. Guide yourself, hero of time... Use your power. _The Hero of Time was what he wandered what it was, and who was speaking to him was another question, though at this time it didn't matter.

_What? What was that?_ He turned and saw nothing, but the monsters, so he placed his sword in his hands turning around as the blade began to glow, wandering what the voice was. It turned a deep blue before developing to a light crimson, the lights seeming to scare him, causing him to gasp in terror of the power. A small power illuminated from it. What is that? Gaping upon it, he dropped the sword, but instead of it hitting the ground, the sword began to shimmer a pure yellow and ricocheted off of the forested walls, first slamming inside one of the Baba's heads. Moving backwards, it ricocheted once more and went through the other one's neck, killing them all as green juice sloshed across Link's entire body.

That wasn't the end of it, though, that was not the end of it by a long shot, he was far from finished with this battle, or the sword was. While he wiped off his clothes, another one appeared, but this one was looking different than the others were, not as vicious, or as dangerous. This one is pretty stiff. The thing teetered around with its' teeth bared up towards the air, and as he saw this and walked towards it, the blade a few feet from its neck. It just sat there! It just sat there! Quite a funny story, actually, because now he could take care of the monster with no fear of anything, gripping the blade of the dropped sword now. The way it just sat there and looked aside, or smelt aside. Pushing forward, he leapt into it and slammed the blade down the middle of this tyrant.

A gasping scream erupted from its now impaled body, it slumped in half and the goo slid all which way, except on his body. The thing stared off into space with its eyeless souls, gave one last growl and collapsed, seeming to collapse on the ground now. Grinning at the death of it, one that actually counted as the first thing he had destroyed, he felt good all inside, killing the thing. Nodding, he cleaned the sword off and sheathed onto of his back, wiping it on the grass so that not to get his shirt any more dirty than it had been. Well with the sword back in its place, the shield was picked back up and assigned into its own designated spot, hoping next time he pulled the right one out.

The actual scene of the sword took place in, what seemed like, and slow motion, but it was a smaller considerate amount of time. Taking less than two minutes, but it felt like an eternity to him with all the emotions that flowed through, all that he felt now. Covered in guts and dirt, he leapt forward and grabbed the small farie off of the ground, not caring about his clothes at this minute, only her. Moving her inside of his arms, he gently checked for any breathing and saw she was just unconscious, not having a fatal wound or any broken bones. Sighing, he lay upon the grass and kept her inside of his arms, now looking upon her, wondering if she was bleeding internally, it was possible. What if she was dying? What if? What if?

He let out a small cry as the tears began to stream down his cheeks and fall upon her, sprinkling her in a shower of water and salt. It was just couldn't contain himself, and he broke down, hugging on her harder than ever, but with that soft little touch of himself. He pushed upon her veil and it opened revealing a woman, the thing actually disappeared instead of falling off, meaning it was a ball of energy. She was more developed and looked nothing like the female Kokiiri, with long blue hair falling down her shoulders with such pale skin. Was this Navi without the veil? He shrugged his shoulder mentally, flushing all over, but nevertheless prayed to whoever was guiding the earth to protect her soul, his new partner.

_--------------------_

_Hmm?_ The farie wondered what was going on, it was quite blurry from her viewpoint. Now she felt a shower, but when he lips opened she could feel the salt and automatically knew what it was. _Tears. Who could be crying? _Then she knew who it was,and then it came back to her and she knew it was Link, she was the only one that he was with, those things didn't cry. Why was he crying? What had happened, and she remembered those Babas, but why were they there? Awakening up from her sleep her veil automatically turned back on and, her eyes open, and caught some of the tear inside her mouth. Feelings those eyes open up, she blocked herself with her hands so that she couldn't get any in her eyes, getting it in the mouth instead again, fluttering up.

"Linky? Link, why're you crying?" Why would anyone have ever cried for her, she knew that had never happened, so it wasn't in her thoughts?

Oh and then he gasped and curled her up inside his arms, kissing her face and all together being friendly with her. _She was alive!_ It caused the happiness to ensue and he cried louder and continued to kiss and smother her with affection, nuzzling her softer than he ever had, his eyes were watering once again. Oh, Goddess she was alive, she was alive now and there was nothing that could change it, he would make sure to always protect her. He shouldn't have acted like that before and to change that, he mentally vowed to never be a coward again, to protect his new partner.

"Navi! I thought you had died. Oh! What were those things? I was so scared and then they hurt us both," He pointed towards his leg and shrugged, before continuing. "You were so brave and I was such a coward, I am so happy you are around here, saving me and risking you life." He had given her no opportunity to speak up, or interrupt him.

_Eh?_ Her cheeks turned a deep crimson as she thought about him weeping about her, on how someone could worry about her. Wow, little old me? Well, she smiled and pecked his cheek, before sitting back upon his nose, a nice warm spot that would prove to be good in the future. But, she heard what he said about the cut and spied upon it, looking over at it with those eyes cutting in concern, gasping a little bit. Wow, it was quite bloody and would infect if she didn't prove probable cause, it would infect itself and then he might die from it. Moving over towards his tunic, she gathered up some of it, tearing it along the hem, wrapping it around the wound before wetting it with saliva.

"Navi!" He pulled away, pulling the hem down as if he were a little schoolgirl with the older boys looking up her dress, and looking upon her, he felt a bit of pain, then the cloth of his tunic were wrapped around his cut.

"That's cut was some of my aura in it, it won't heal it, that happens naturally. The cloth if to prevent infection until the wound clots." Hopefully, she wasn't a medical agent or anything, but her general knowledge helped her.

"Oh…thank you Navi." A smile came, the infection would have caused their mission to be bad, thankfully this way it worked out.

"Your welcome, Linky." Her voice rung out the nickname--something she had said before unconsciously.

_A nickname, eh?_ Well, that was all right with him, and there he leaned against the left wall of the narrow corridor and spoke up with his voice spread out at her. "So, what are those things? I've never seen them before."

"That was something called a Deku Baba, but they haven't been in this forest for at least three hundred years. I wonder why they are back here? Hrm, I'll be sure to ask the Great Deku Tree." Yea, weird things had been happening since the Deku Tree had started having those nightmares--that was a week ago.

"Should I be warned if any other little surprises are out there?" Perhaps other things with sharp teeth and veins that could wrap around and smother you to death.

"Hrm…Wolvos, maybe, but I doubt it. They haven't been around here for five hundred years. Deku shrubs are usually deep inside the lost woods, but they maybe around. That's about it, which are the only enemies around here. There was another, though…" It was placed upon the tip of his tongue, though he was unsure of what was going to happen.

"Another one?" Inquired Link, she seemed to be flustered around this, and so he pondered on with her answer coming forth.

"A Inu-warrior, I forgot the ancient name. They haven't been around for two-thousand years, or that's what the Great Deku Tree has told me." A dog was what it was considered, but she had seen pictures and carvings and honestly she did not consider them that.

"Inu, what is that?" Link inquired, looking over at her curiously, as the two of them readied themselves to walk onward.

"It means dog, but it was more of a pig than anything." Nodding, her wings fluttered themselves up as she fluttered over infront of his face.

"Alright, Navi, let's go." He made sure all of his equipment was intact and inspected himself, testing the leg, when he was sure it was ready, he began to walk forward.

"Okies, we shall continue on." Nodding, she pointed up ahead with a lack of concern hidden from that plated veil.

"Linky, we are almost there, but watch out for any other of those Baba or anything else. Oh! I almost forgot to go on and check where the Baba were, go on and look." Yes, she had forgot about the remains of the monsters, and smiled sweetly, pointing over where the motionless corpses were.

Gingerly, he bent down towards the graves of the dead plants, since they were only a few feet away from the victim's graves. Down was a stick, it was hard and he picked up two of them, the things hard and made of Deku Wood, the things that he had trained with from before. Picking up the stick, he hit it against the wall, nodding that when it didn't snap that it indeed was the Deku sticks he had always had. There was a little slot on the side where he stuck the stick, not inside of the side pack, but hanging off the side so that he could grab it easily.

He giggled and slapped them down into his pack as he looked up at her now with amazement spread into his eyes, not knowing that. "Wow, those are from the Deku Babas?"

"Well, their offspring, but whatever the case, you can use those as tools, they are unbreakable and when burned it takes a long time for them to burn out or any other case."

Well, he grinned and scooped her up as he headed down towards the path where the tree was up ahead; it was seen in the distance, but a while away. That was basically an understatement because after three more Babas, three more sticks and of course about an hour and fifteen minutes later, the path opened up into some sort of boundary area. Not as close as he thought, the tree was there in the distance when he grabbed the last of the dead Baba's offspring, grabbing it and sticking it close. He gasped as the grass was a lush and more greatly than ever, the garden of the Deku Tree made the Kokiiri forest look like a wasteland. Looking aside, it was dark and he moved forward a little more, and the more closely he got that was the more darkly it got, and turning towards her.

"Navi?" He whispered out tenderly.

"Yea, Linky?" She was paying attention, though more focused on if future Babas were on the lookout for flesh.

"Why do you keep it on?" It was a breech of speech he came out with, though confusing as it was; he would explain it soon enough.

"Keep what on?" The little fairie came out from her state of looking around and she just paid more attention towards his words.

"The veil, Navi, the veil." Link inquired.

"Oh, so other people don't see me when I don't want them too, and you felt the warmth," she giggled.

"I saw you." Link whispered, shyly, a little blush coming upon his cheeks and there he watched where she was. "When you fell and that incident, and well, I saw you without your veil and thought you were very pretty."

"You saw me! " She gasped and repeated exactly what she had spoken about a few seconds before that. "You saw?"

"When you were unconscious. … I'm sorry." He felt like he had been taking advantage of her, a bad thing on his own little part.

"It's not your fault, but never mind that, let us continue we are almost there." As when emotions came up, she decided to change the subject, emotions just weren't her thing.

Nodding, the boy followed the farie for about twenty extra minutes before the path split and the narrow was no more, what was there seemed to be all that was around him. It opened up into a long and huge field, the size of the entire forest, it stretching back across the place, yet now there was nothing in here unlike the forest. All that was in the way was the tree, still in the distance, still so far away that he couldn't help but sigh that it seemed so far away now. The place was empty, nothing at all, it was so depressing at how a field could be all alone that he blew out a long sigh of breath. So despaired that the boy couldn't think of anything, focusing all his attention upon the tree, wondering if that was the one.

Here was a tree, but just not any other tree, the tree was about two- hundred and fifty feet tall and wider than that, he stared upward at the branches. That extended and blocked the sun was this some sort of a monster, it was like a giant eclipse, or a moon was blocking all of the sun. Letting her go, keeping so she could flutter into the air, resting the flying pace right by his own side, the boy looked over at her now. When she did flutter, he nodded towards himself, unsheathing his sword and ran towards the tree, crying out loud as he raced up towards the tree. When he was twenty-five feet from the tree, she screamed and zipped right infront of his face, her aura growing a deep blue.

"Link! Stop that!" A slap across the face, made him wince with pain and he looked aside, sadly and just sighed softly what had he done to make her did that, and it was awfully that bad?

"W-what did I do!" He whimpered, looking upward, he was just trying to protect her--what was he to do?

"Linky, are you nuts!" Spoke Navi, very sternly and she stared up at where he was, respecting out the formal title of the giant. "That is the Great Deku Tree, now show some respect."

"I thought it was a monster, like before. I'm sorry. I-I'm sorry, Navi." Of course, he was just more interested in her well being than anyone else's, it was strange what he felt for her.

Turning towards the giant tree, his father and creator, he knelt down on one knee and bowed once, reimbursing for trying to attack it. Was it going to punish him for his disobedience, even though it was just an honest mistake and he was acting like the hero that was to be summoned? He didn't know, but he didn't want to be smacked around by one of those long branches, that wouldn't feel too good on the head. Then he stood up and turned back towards his newfound guardian, facing her with his hands lying limply at his sides, blowing a sigh out. As he did this, Navi just shook her head in an embarrassed manner, trying to apologize to her master at what happened was a mistake, never getting it out.

He automatically cupped her back inside of his hands, he had let her be when he saw the tree, but she was back inside those peach palms, securing her, yet giving her room to see through and breath. Was he being to forward and smothering her with love, well maybe that was the case, but it didn't seem to bother her in the least. Being lit up again, his palms began to glow the colour, making him flush and sigh along with the pleasure of the overbearing warmth. Yes, she was just that warm, not even paying heed if the master was watching him or not, he was being sort of rude this way, yes, he was. Clearing his throat some, the boy leaned forward into his palms, kissing the little fairie on the tip of the head, letting her go free now.

The Giant Guardian, Farore created that, when she made the forest of the land, he was watching them now with delight spread in the large face. He saw the young child and his companion and began to laugh the humorous scene it was he did not at all mind that the child tried to attack him. Wishing more children were this protective of his fairies, the tree continued to laugh, the laugh deep-throated and displaying he was a male. The laugh was very much like him--great and huge, and the boy shook around, stumbling for balance, causing the tree to laugh harder. The abrupt laughter stopped with a coughing fit that sounded off, but he stabilized it in a few seconds, clearing his large throat.

Finally, he composed himself speaking with great pleasure. "Yes, thou hath returned, Great Navi, is this the child without a farie? What is thou name, Child?"

His voice was huge, but he stared forward up at him and felt a bit confused at this, how a tree could talk, for one, he had always thought it was a large Kokiiri. Even though they always called him a tree, he thought that that was maybe some sort of names, like a title you called the leader of a forest. Now he wasn't a bit surprised to find out it was a tree, given the circumstances at all that had happened in the past hour or so, nothing surprised him. The speech was also kind of confusing, something he had read in an old book of plays, and the speech of the old land they called it. _Thou?_

The next five feet he walked, so the tree could see hear his tiny, feminine voice. "I am Link, Great Deku Tree, my name is Link."

"Ah, Link, such a phenomenal name. Yea, Link. I shall tell thee a story, one thy may or may not have heard before. Nevertheless, thou need to learn of the story of the Three Goddess: Din, Naryu, and Farore."

"T-They're not legends?" Surprise came to his face.

"Oh, no." The Deku Tree chuckled and there he continued onward with the tree speaking, it felt almost like a fairy tale. "They are as real as you and me, or were. The Kokiiri elders need to start teaching you younger ones more responsively."

Positioning himself evenly, Link lay down on his stomach, laying forward and stared forward at the giant tree, still holding Navi in his hands. Keeping the little fairie secure was one of his top priorities from this moment on, not letting anything keep him from protecting her. Yes the place they were sitting was a hill; he was on his stomach, yet somehow he held her with those arms extended forward to keep her secure. Navi didn't mind the attention, sitting on his fingers and staring forward for it was a legend she had heard before, yet seemed vital for the mission. He had mostly been doing it since the accident that almost seemed a million years ago, the thing was gone and now only happiness was there.

The Great Deku Tree cleared his throat, beginning the long tale of the Three Goddesses. "In the beginning there was only vast darkness and nothing existed except the three Goddesses: Din, the Goddess of Power. Secondly, Farore, the Goddess of Courage. Finally, Naryu the Goddess of Wisdom would complete all of them. All three of the Goddess' created the each and its resources.

"Din, with her strong flaming arms, cultivated the land to create the earth. Naryu poured her wisdom onto the earth to give the spirit of law to the world. Farore's rich soul created all life forms that would uphold the law. These three great goddesses returned to the heavens, leaving behind the gold sacred Triforce. Since then, the Triforce has become the basis for Hyrule's providence, and where the Triforce stood become sacred land.

"But now something has befallen me. The man from the desert, in the black cape is after something of mine. A precious jewel, but I refused to give it to him and cursed my insides. Now, Link, will thou break the curse that has been set upon me? Please, but this is not a mission you have to take. I will take your decision whatever it maybe. I sense a power…a warrior's presence inside of you. Will you except this challenge?"

Wow, all the information poured inside of his mind about the legend, Goddess', and the man in the black desert, whomever it was. The man in the black desert that he talked about seemed so familiar, he didn't know why, but it was like he knew the man before, maybe in another life. Gasping at the realization that his master was poisoned, he looked down at the ground, realizing just how much was at stake here. It really was a bad situation to press on one little boy, there were others around here, yet the power of a warrior was inside of him. Smiling at the thought of that, the boy looked over at the tree with his thoughts focusing on just what he was to do, was he to help?

_He is poisoned? A curse of some kind_. It all coursed through his mind, but he finally blurted out. "I-I don't know, can I think about this?"

"Please, hero, there is no time for you to think!" It was a forced decision; sure but rational thought had been thrown out the window long ago.

But Navi was the one to answer up, speaking calmly with her own voice--of course she was just as confused as he was. "I shall accompany you, Link, and your journey through the peril, but where shall we go? To break the curse?"

Speaking up, the boy spoke out, grinning afterwards, he felt the fear leave his body and a new confidence engulf him. "If Navi-- if she goes. I will go, she helped me and is a great guardian force for me."

"Ah, I was counting on Navi helping thee, Link, because you may have the spirit, but you are very young and lack the experience and fighting skills that you need for a true warrior. Now, are you ready for your destiny to begin?"

"Yes, Great Deku Tree." Whatever was to come, he would face it and with this newfound courage, a new ally, and most of all himself was needed.

With a start, the Great Deku Tree's mouth widened until it was about fifteen feet tall and long, the thing stretching far as it could, the wideness not moving. His mouth was already seven feet thick anyway, so it was long enough for him to slip in anyway, so thick and wide that he gasped. How it was possible for him to do that was beyond the boy, so far beyond that he sat there for a few seconds, realizing he hadn't spoke and looked onward. Before he could speak however, somehow the voice came out of the tree; it was his, yet he wasn't moving his lips at all, like a ventriloquist. Yet a voice, just as aloud, echoed from the hollow hole, the deepness remained in their, making Link tremble once more.

"Navi, guide Link through the perils of my mouth. Yes, now enter."

Gulping softly, he placed the shield in his left hand and putting the unsheathed sword into his right hand descended off the hill and towards the Tree's mouth. The long walk was a more torturous than ever, he didn't want to do this, he wanted to go back to Saria and tell her that he had seen the Deku Tree and show her the sword. No, but then he wouldn't have a beautiful tale to tell her about how he vanquished the evil in the tree, how he won against the power, and then she would love him. Yes, defeating the monster was the only way to get her attention; he already had it in one form, yet he didn't have it in what he wanted. Those selfish reasoning were enough for him to grab the hilt of his sword, clink it a little, before turning towards his fairie and hearing her voice chime.

"Ready, Linky?" She turned herself towards him and stared deeply into those eyes, seeing if he was frightened or not--she knew she was.

"No, not really, but let's go, anyway" He walked the rest of the way, twenty feet, that led towards the place of evil, and evil indeed did seem to be there in its pure form. It stank of evil; the scent of decaying wood engulfed his nostrils when he lay five feet from the hole, making him sad because this was his master rotting. If he didn't do something the tree would die, and then he realized why he was chose; because there was no one else for the job. No one else brave enough, strong enough, nor with enough courage to do what he was about to do, and with that on his mind, he was ready. He turned towards Navi and smiled. Smiling back, Navi slid towards his side, fluttering around him and she was ready to protect her companion for whatever was to come, good or evil, what perils awaited them?


	2. Chapter I Wooden Anarchic

-1Chapter I: Wooden Anarchic

Copyright: I do not own Zelda, Nintendo does. Story by Habuki productions.

The place was huge! The breathing corridor was from the looks only about one room, but it expended about two-hundred feet across and stretched up several miles upward. The young boy's eyes glared upward and around, there were structured branches and webs all over the entire place, but from the looks of it no more of those stupid babas or any other dangers of the world. Well, that was good for Link because soon after he sheathed the Kokiiri blade and walked around the room exploring the area for any clues. It was all right to be here now, he felt so secure inside of his creator's body, it gave him a sense of refreshment, as if when he was with Saria.

"This place is huge, Navi, I didn't think he was so hollow hee!" Remarked Link, tapping on the right end of the tree, it had taken him a few minutes to travel that far, just showing how big this tree was. This place was so extraordinary, sort of like some ancient museum where the artifacts were just placed in the ground, waiting to be explored. Smiling at his new companion, the young boy just looked around the place, eyes brightened for their New World, the new adventure. Yes, he had always wanted to explore ever since he was small, and now with the exception of his master being sick, he was having his dream become a reality. Only now his best dream had come true, he had himself a fairie, something he had never dreamed of coming true, and now here it was.

"Mmhm, Linky, it is huge. Dangerous, too, you had had your guard up and use it wisely. I don't know how long that shield can hold, it is only Deku." Of course that's what she thought, she really wasn't too sure about the wood's strength.

"What other materials are there?" He wanted to know what his shield could be refined for, so he asked the simple little question.

"Metal, iron, crystal, and other materials." None of these existed in the forest, as far as anyone knew, and probably would never belong there.

"I am not even going to ask." Remarked the young boy as he moved over towards the bushes, wow, maybe there were some supplies such as some more of those sticks, but those only came from. Another one of those horrible screeches, one that sounded a little cut off his thoughts fiercer than the Babas on the outside. This time he was ready, though, his newly trained weapon was out and the shield slammed into the recently uprooted baba that had, so stupidly appeared right infront of him. With three quick strokes, them seeming tougher, the liquid spilled aside and it was dead, throwing out some more of the sticks, which were gathered up and nestled in his pack. Growling at the dead creature, he kicked the carcass aside, not even liking the smell of the dead thing, death had never been a quality of his.

"Hrm, they are getting easier and easier, Navi, I wonder if that is all there is to this? If it is, I will be out of here in half an hour, or so." He truly believed this, not having an idea at just how hard a dungeon could be, the place was illuminated by the nutrients in the tree.

"Don't get too cocky, Linky, these things aren't what is poisoning the Deku Tree, because his defenses could of killed them easily." Navi insisted, it would be a hard road ahead for both of them.

"That is probably true, Navi." Clearing his throat, he slid down onto his knees and rustled through the palate brown bushes, just searching through and out for something. Going through the bushes was what he had seen the older Kokiiri doing a few days of the week, looking not just for rubies, but also food. It was a simple matter every Kokiiri knew that most likely things had been dropped or planted in the ground for other people to find. Staring around the branches, the boy was wondering how the place was so bright and why it was hollow, trees weren't supposed to be hollow.

It took about less than a minute and pulled out a packet of nuts, he turned around and held them outright towards her. "What are these?"

"Ooh, those are Deku Nuts, they can paralyze opponents, but they aren't for eating. If you throw them down to the ground, they can paralyze your enemy for a few seconds. More than enough time to attack."

Nodding, he stuffed the three oversized nuts into a small compartment on the left angle of his side-pack, leaving it open, just in case those little nuts were needed. Before he even had enough time to turn around, he heard three shrieks at his right side and gasped loudly at what was in his view now. The babas, the first one had regenerated, and two more where now with him, sort of his companions for trying to get in an assault attack. Luckily Babas were so loud that he had enough time to dodge away from them for the time being, yet killing them now was out of the question. Not enough time to act, he yanked out the three nuts and threw them at the plants in every direction, not caring which nut hit who.

With three screeches they all froze into place and just smelt the young boy and his companion with the nostrils, the eyeless creatures crying out in confusion. Holding the sword out, he spun around in two circular turns and decapitated all the animals in one, slumping down the liquid spewed and stick all formed over the corpses. Gathering all of them, he had a set of ten and it just enough room, so he gathered back towards the bushes and picked up three more new nuts before looking around for something to get up. There was obviously no ladder, so he went to the wall and stared up around the area for a way up, but for the time being it seemed hopeless. No physical way he could jump all that way, the wall was solid so no holding marks for him to grab and climb, all he could do was watch.

It was actually Navi who found the entrances as she tugged at the branches and flew up towards them, exploring around. They were actually looked like they could support his small form, now a normal kokiiri would fall, but he was extremely smaller than the rest of them. Fluttering down to where he sat, she watched him look around, amazed at his clueless nature, and also finding it very adorable. The way he looked all around, peering in every other direction and not even seeing the obvious infront of him, although it wasn't all the bright in here.

Perching onto of his hat and staring down at him with the eyes of a little girl who had just gotten some candy, she pointed out the obvious to the young boy. "Linky, check the limbs, they look like they will do the trick."

"Hrm? Well, let me check, I guess it won't hurt." Staring up at the vines, they extended about forty feet up and led onto a cliff, and so he climbed up it feeling pretty sure of it, until he got about seven feet and one of the ropes snapped. Turning around, he let out a screech, pulling out the Kokiiri blade out and slamming into the uneven soul with it, breaking his fall, also saving him from any broken limbs. Turning towards his fairie, he sneered a little at her, before calling out to her in sort of an obnoxious tone, not that it wasn't appropriate.

"Well, thanks Navi." He remarked with a bit of sarcasm and stared back up at her with those eyes carrying a bit of tears from the scrapes on him.

"Oh, Link, I am so sorry! I, thought it would work, I am so s-sorry!" She literally broke into tears and went over towards his face, pressing her face up against his or her entire body, and rubbing against him in a powdery stance.

"Hee, it is alright, I am alright. I--let us just try again and I will go on the right side instead of the left side, this time." Well, again, he stood himself up and brushed off, before climbing up the trail until he surpassingly reached the top of the cliff and pulled himself over. The insect-like thing floated around him, and rubbed up against his face, until he had to pull her away and gingerly hold the small body inside of his hands. Finally finding the edge of it, the vines disappeared when he lavished the twenty feet, pulling himself up all the way, taking a look around his surroundings.

"We did it! We did it! Hee now let us see--" taking a look around this room made him suddenly lose every bit of happiness there was. There was a larger corridors all around with spider-webs floating in areas he didn't want to see, and other stuff that would of made him creep out (given the circumstances.) Shivering, the boy looked off to the other side, staring at the ground for a few seconds, trying to get his own act together before she noticed. As long as he had lived, Link had hated spiders, he hated the webs, everything about them gave him the shivers, and even the name of them did the trick. Now with the webs everywhere, he just knew that spiders were around, waiting to get him at any exact moment he acted up, or let his guard down.

This, well palace was the only word, was circular all across and had several trudges that looked like they would have to leapt across. Heh, he turned southwards and went the direction that didn't have the jumps until he came upon a large wooden chest. It did quite resemble the chest with the sword, so he bent down on both knees and lifted up with all his might until a creek resembled, and golden light poured out of the old chest along with a piece of paper. The paper was in a language he could read, having several areas on the map, places he couldn't even see, nor could he decipher.

"Navi?" Sitting down on the ground, he stared at the map in utter confusion, trying to make it out, before turning to his more knowledgeable fairie and speaking.

"Oh, that's a dungeon map, Link, it will help you navigate throughout this entire place. Maybe the Deku Tree left this out for you, so you could find your way throughout this place." A map was something she had glanced upon from the old stories; it led you from one place to another.

"Hee, I guess he is watching out for me?" Gasping, she began to point out to him how to use it, and within a few minutes, he had the thing down to bat, able to read it now. Delighted, he checked the top corridor and it did show where they were, and there was a door just a few miles south of here! Placing the map deep inside his side-pack, he raced the rest of the way down the dungeon halls, hoping the map gave the location of monsters too. This place just stank of evil; he could feel it as he passed the spider-webbed sides, which blocked his way down there, not that he planned on going there. Finally he saw the door, but as he turned a slithering sound appeared and he was thrown halfway across the wall, slamming into the close wall, only a couple of feet away.

_-Skicchh _

"Link! Link!" Screamed the young farie, literally throwing her down into his chest and slapping his face wildly. "A Skulltulla! Run, it'll eat you!"

_Skull-wha?_ He looked up at the sight that beheld him, and what it was made his breath stop all at once, his fear of spiders getting in the way once more. There was this creature, a creature that was like a spider, yet it wasn't, certainly something that he had never seen before, nor wanted too again. A skull head attached to what looked like a spider underneath with a scurry of legs pounding right at him, trying to get on him. The skull didn't even look like the monsters, like it took it from a corpse it had killed, latching it on for some sort of armour, or something. Instantly, he sprung up and brought out that blade launching an attack right at his head, well he aimed for the head, trying to break the skull.

That was just one of the many mistakes that Link made in this dungeon, he wasn't that skilled in tactics yet, so he could do some stupid things. Because as soon as he threw the blow, he was thrown back against the wall and hit with a slumped falls. Feeling weak, he just watched the monster stare at him until it turned around? What was this? A tender spot was on its backside; it seemed to be a weak spot.

So he took a chance and leapt forward slicing the blade right into the center of this spider-demon. A screech erupted from the beast when the blade slammed back into its exoskeleton and shattered inward through its' heart. Blood gushed from the sides all over, as the monster slumped down and pulled itself off of the ledge, and falling down towards the ground. With one last thump, it gave a screech of terror and died.

"W-what? Was that? Navi?" He spoke out solemly and looked around.

"T-that was a Skulltula, Link. It is a skeleton and a spider hybrid, but I have never seen one of those in the longest of years. You had better be on your guard, his babies might be around." She really wasn't expecting such a monstrous creature to come out, she knew he was possessed, but such evil creatures were coming out.

"Babies! Oh, no. Are they as big as him?" Yes, that's exactly what he wanted to know, even though he knew infants were smaller than the parent was.

"Thankfully no, they are called Skullwalltulas and they usually reside on branches and are about the size of your fist. Not very big, but hard to shoot off with a sword. We need to find something else." She trailed off, and stared up at the door for some reason, trying to find a way out of this creepy place; it just didn't seem like the Deku Tree anymore.

Nodding with agreement, he headed over and pushed the door open, seeing no danger and walked inside of the area with open arms. Thankfully this room was smaller, and had a deep ledge that looked like it would kill a person if they were to fall off of it, not that he planned on it. Great, nothing in this room except a bush. Turning around, he didn't seem to notice that the bush pushed up and something was looking up at him with the reddest of eyes, making a snorting sound. A nasty sort of sound that those elfish ears would have picked up, and in fact they did hear the sound, the ugly sound from the monster. The sound did get to Link's ears quickly, so when Navi shouted something at him, he was already way ahead of her, readying himself by the time he heard it.

"LINK! Shield, spin and block!" Her instincts had told her to take those actions, even though she really wasn't sure how she said it--felt like something had controlled her--in reality she hadn't even seen it coming.

Instinctively, he spun around and the Deku Shield went out as a nut was fired, and reflected back to some sort of wooden bush. It was brown and obviously made of wood, but had a muzzle and could walk and move, some sort of automatic puppet of some sort? The nut went back and hit the thing in the head, and showing cowardliness, it jumped up and ran around the entire small ledge, keeping from falling off. Looking for a place to hide, was it? He didn't know, but leapt forward and caught it in his grasp, holding it down and sitting on top of its' body, stared down at it with fierce determination.

It didn't take much to scare it, because the look made it squeal out in pain, even though Link weighed less than the thing, and so he spoke. "Why did you do that?"

"Oh, forgive me, master!" It could talk? So it did, speak in a raspy voice, and did once more. "I will tell you a secret, if you let me go."

"I'm listening."

"See? Getting down there is such a hassle, but if you hold your balance and curl into a ball you can jump down. Now, I am not saying this works for all ledges, so don't try it on mountains or anything." And with that, it spit into Link's face and scurried back down the bushel from wince it came, leaving a rude exit as it had done with the entrance.

Wiping the green saliva from his eyes, he sat upon the bush, and looked up at her. "What did he mean? You think I can?"

"Well, not all the way, but I see that there is a platform hanging in the air. Why don't you try it that way? I know it is once in a lifetime, but I will catch you, if you fall." She wasn't sure about her strength in holding him, he was small, but she had never really held anything heavy.

Nodding, he spun around and put his sword up behind him, while backing up all the way to the entrance, readying his muscles for a jump he would take. He wasn't as crazy as the shrub thought he was, why would he take orders from a monster that was too cowardly to face him in battle. Nah, he might try it later on, but now he was going to go for the ledge, to pick his own spots and fight his own battles when they came to him. A loose bang flung in his face, pushing it aside, readying his cap for the jump and making sure he wasn't going to pull a muscle when jumping. Smirking to himself, he shook his head, feeling the courage of him already beginning to build back up, it seemed the spirit of a warrior was inside of him.

"Ready?"

"Yep, Linky, let her rip!"

With a burst of speed, he took off like a hurricane, and leapt off of the ledge until he came to the middle platform in the air, held up by nothing. Invading how gravity did this, he was simply amazed at what was holding this up, since there was no weird air current below, nor strings holding it up. He shrugged a shoulder, waving over to his fairie, smiling at her, giving a no problem smile, before he spoke in a louder voice than usual. Before he could muster a thought or any words, he was cut off when the platform began to shake and he quickly leapt to the over side of the bridge as fast as he can. The ground he was just on, fell to the ground with a crash, the boy flailing his arms wildly, he gripped the end of the ledge and pulled himself up in a scurry of angst.

"Great. I don't see a way back, Navi." But he saw another chest; this one had the silver rims, like the one with the sword on it, which meant that the rims meant something greater than a map. Leaping for it, he pressed all his weight up and pulled it out of the rut that it was in, the chest giving off a lot more weight than it seemed capable of. In a matter of minutes, he had the chest open, a spray of golden light filling his eyes, as if the Goddesses themselves had visited him. Shaking the chest on its edge, he reached his hand inside quickly, not afraid of anything inside, sound a sort of solid object, and yanked out a slingshot.

"Hrm, Link, you need those, but what about…oh, I know!" She spun around the side of the chest, beginning to dig through the thing with her submerged inside of the box for a few minutes. Link just stared at her, hoping she wouldn't suffocate in the box, trying out his new slingshot (with no ammo), before long she appeared with her hands full with a sack. The sack she handed to the young boy, who opened it up and saw inside were a bunch of seeds that went when planting smaller Deku Trees.

What these could be used for was beyond Link, so he looked over to Navi, whom was already speaking to him in her informative manner. "There. Use these for your slingshot, these are Deku Seeds."

"Hee, thanks, Navi." Pulling out the slingshot, he looked around his area for something to shoot and literally fainted, there was an area for him to shoot, being so close! "Navi, a ladder!"

"Well, shoot it!"

Mmhm, he pulled one of the nuts out, pulled back the rubber band and let the nut flow as it cracked against the ladder, incased in some thin web, on the other side of the room. With one shot, the webs cracked and a finely tuned ladder went plummeting down at the other side, the ladder landing in the position that they could get out of here. Giving them a way out of here by the tools of a new object, it was like this place was designed together, so without all the materials you couldn't leave.

Now, all he did was simply put his slingshot and nuts in the right side of his pack and leapt off of the edge, trying his luck with the advice. Pulling his legs and curling into a ball, he slammed down on the ground with nothing more than just a few scratches nothing more or less. Grinning, the boy ran over towards the ladder and climbed up towards the top and went out the room from which he came.

After finding the slingshot, Link was feeling pretty sure of himself. He had found a new weapon-- a new, convenient weapon, and a map. The only problem was which direction he was headed, the map may have been what he was tutored on a while back, but he wasn't an expert on it. This map was so old; it looked like if he pulled it hard enough it would turn to ashes, and not taking his luck, he just kept it tucked at his side. No idea knowing how to navigate, he left that up to Navi, whom seemed to know where she was going around here and in this weird place. Hands were down by his sides, wrapped up like a school-boy and staring off in different directions, listening for any sort of scuttles or any sounds that didn't seem natural.

"Navi, where are we?"

"I really don't know." She stopped speaking as they came around the corner, excited that this place had turned up. "A room! Link, another room!"

"Yeah! Hee, now lets see what's in here." Walking infront of the door, he tapped onto it with his sword, and it sprang open, that seemed a very nice convenient way of opening doors, since they didn't have knobs.

Hrm, he inspected for those nasty Deku shrubs and headed deep inside, when he found none, no bushels were they could be hiding, anyway. In the room was a platform, where he was standing, a lower region, and another high region across the room, the rooms seemingly to get a bit smaller as the higher up they went. At his left and right were two unlit torches, and to the side was a small-lit torch, each of them seeming to play a part in those old stories Saria read to him. When he entered the area, a pair of bars slammed down across the exit, concealing him from getting out of here, the bars not really bendable. "Hey!"

Navi fluttered around and began to explore the room, looking for a way out of this trap; it looked so weird that he would have implanted these mechanisms. There was no way this could be real; this dungeon must have been carved out of the remains of the Deku Tree, which just had to be it? Were the Deku Tree's insides always like this or were these the defenses he always talked about in the works, or were they the enemies? As she went across the room she saw that there was a hidden wall, but the hidden room was empty, nothing in particular was going on there.

Going across the room, she spotted a large chest, just like what the map and slingshot were inside, the rim not silver this time, but who cared? Who really cared about it, there was a chest there that had some valuable items in them, maybe like a more updated map or something. "Link, come on and try to get this chest! It may have some more weapons inside of it!"

"Hrm? Oh, coming, Navi!" He yelled back at his full lungs, trying to make her feel it and when she waved back, he nodded towards her, smiling to him bashfully. Well, he was almost there when he spotted a small switch that was squared with the shape of a moon on top of it, he couldn't have gotten across the area anyway, and it was too long. Curiously, he slammed his foot upon the switch, the switch making a small crinkling sound, something he had never heard before, then a ticking sound going off. Link ignored the ticking, thinking it was all in his mind, turning his attention to the platforms with his eyes lighting up, he did something right!

"Link, what're you--" Three small platforms appeared in the middle, lower region of the two platforms, they weren't that wide apart, but just enough for him to land and not fall off. She saw what he was doing, and congradulated him, as it seemed he was gaining some knowledge of this place, learning the ropes. Yup, he was gaining a little skill in these matters, braving the odds and conquering whatever came infront of him, a nice talent for him. Nodding, he hopped across all three of the platforms easily.

It was quite easy to do it after the slingshot incident, his confidence boosted. Leaping across the last one, he landed infront of her and giggled, nodding to himself at how easy it was, still hearing that stupid ticking. "See, that was quite easy."

Turning towards the chest, he knelt down upon the ground and examined the chest, it was the same as the other boxes, so it checked it. It was a deep Deku-brown with a bronze lining across the entire chest, making him think that it wasn't as good as a weapon, but the best next thing. Placing his hands upon the top-part of the brown box and pressed upward with all his strength, not wanting to tip this one over. Flowing, golden light pierced out, and what he picked up was a small blue instrument, something used for telling time or something. Before he could sit down and examine it, the platforms began to lower, the timer disappearing from his mind altogether, gasping loudly.

"Link, run!" Navi screamed aloud, she was already on the other side of the platform, with one of his Deku sticks at her side, keeping it incase she needed it. Concentrating, he slipped the compass inside of his side-pack and leapt across each of the platforms, except the last, the last one just coming down too slow. Gasping, he stood on the last one as the other two went down, him trapped in the place, and when looking down, all he saw was darkness. Crying out in surprise, he should have been quicker and now he would die all because of this stupid thing, leaving Navi alone to fight. Well, it would end this way, which was what he didn't approve of so, he was trying to think, looking at Navi with his eyes dimming some.

_--------------------_

It was like a dream-almost, for she saw him doing well, until the last one, where he stumbled and screwed up on the platform, leading him down to his doom. He slammed into the gravel because the platforms were too low, and now he was trapped in the spot, not being able to get back to the exit. Now, what was better than that, it was just like the nightmare had occurred right when there was no place to wake up, only the blackness was the sweet relief. That's when the platforms sunk below into the bitter darkness, and it was so sad that they came this far, yet she was not going to let that spoil the fun, no way she lost him.

Now all he had was two hands holding against the brimstone, trying to pull him up with all his might, not able to on his own. "N-N-Navi!"

"Linky!" She flew up and grabbed the Deku stick, lowering it until she felt him grab a hold. When she felt the enormous weight upon the stick, she pulled up with all of her might. There was no use, at first, he was just too heavy and no matter how hard she beat her wings, she didn't think that he was going to come back up. Well, it was not going to end that way, she would make sure of it, so the wings went even faster than before, almost at a hummingbird's speed. The weight was intense, yes, but she was not letting this boy die, her boy would not die in these circumstances, nor ever would he. No way, no how. This wasn't the end of their journey.

_--------------------_

Placing both soft digits, upon the stick, he implanted his hands into the ground (or walls, in this case) pulling up with all he could muster from within. When he was just almost the full way up, he felt a weight relieve from him, like some sort of burden being lifted. It was like something had disappeared from like, yes a burden was a nice way of saying it, well that was what it felt like at first, almost losing himself from the relief. No, instead he saw the compass drop from his side pack, and cried out in surprise, and with a gasp, he tried to reach out for the item. He even grasped the thing in his hands, pulling it back, yet the slipping circle slid from his fingers and down the blackness. "The new item!"

"Nevermind that, Link! Concentrate!" Then he felt her rise up and let him start pulling, while she pulled herself, trying to maintain this at the maximum speed of her wings. After about ten minutes of pulling, the floor and platforms long gone, he sprang up and stood across the solid ground. Automatically, she pounced upon him and buried her face into his, nuzzling and kissing his cheeks.

"I can't believe you! We went through that and you lost it. Oh, you stupid--cute…Oh!" She cried out loud and went under his hat. Sighing, he picked up his Deku stick. Moving over towards the lit torch, he let the end began to burn. There he walked over towards the two torches and lit them easily. A small dinging sound went off and the bars of the exit rose, but instead of keeping the stick, he threw it over the side of the cliff. Heading out of the room, he shook his head and buried his hands across his chest, with a peeved off Navi under his hat.

_--------------------_

On further inspection, he saw some branches that were in the way and some of those spiders, which she was talking about earlier. The spiders looked just like their masters, wearing the skull upon its head for protection, and he got the feeling that they may have been born that way. Either that or there were a lot of dead things inside of this tree that the spiders could get a hold of and use for some sort of helmet. Looking at the distance between them, he measured with his fingers, trying to see if maybe he could hit them with something. Yes, the idea of his new weapon appeared in his mind, seeing how he could indeed shoot a new seed at them, knocking them down here. When they were down, he would either smash their exoskeleton in, or just kick them off the edge, taking them out of commission.

It was Navi that saw the way on it, as she studied them spiders, she fluttered down back at him, and pointed at the slingshot. "Hit them with it, Linky, it'll knock them off balance and you can smash them when they come back down. They are defenseless on the ground."

"Alright, that won't take long." He only had fifteen nuts, so he used precise aiming when knocking them off, but since Link had never used a weapon like this in his life, the perfect was not so perfect. Well, at first he tried a few shots at the nearby webs, nailing it in with some good accuracy, going towards the web and picking them off. Conserving the seeds that way, the young boy spun around back to where the skull spiders and his fairie were, waiting for it to happen. Aiming for the legs, it took three shots to take the first one down, and when it was down he brought the boots down, crushing the skull. The other two took only a shot each, because he aimed for the head instead. When they were down, he smashed them and began to scale the vines upward.

These vines extended at least two hundred feet upward, and when he finally reached the top, an hour later, he was panting and letting his little poor appendages rest. Shaking his head, have to save the Deku Tree, he stood back up and looked around, peering at all angle for where this place was next. The top room was just a long circle with four planks sticking out of each one, it was like something out of a story, it was weird but there was nothing here. Walking over towards the third one, each on one side of the circle, he peered over at the end, trying to see what was over there. There was nothing? Nothing! What to do! But, he never saw it coming.

_--------------------_

One of those Skulltullas was going to take revenge for his brother, so it hid up in the web until he was just on the edge, in stealth. With one silent slither, it went down with all force and slammed onto the little thing's back, the enticing feeling was back in action. It was beautiful how it struck it, seeing the glow that was with the creature was alert, but not able to do anything about it, being so weak. The thing went flying down towards its death, it seemed and the monster was satisfied, yea the revenge was sweet for it. He had avenged his brother and all was good with the world, so the stupid thing went back to sleep, hitting back in slumber, not caring for the thing's beneficial health.

_--------------------_

_ Wha?_ He went flying through the air, was he a bird or something, or was this dream like he wished, but unfortunately that was not so, he had no idea why he was in the air. Navi had yelled something, but it was too late as he was already about two hundred feet from death, no way to turn back around and grab for help. There was some sort of web on the way down; it was where he first entered, it was weird that he missed it because they would be already down there if not. _One chance._ He had one chance to do this, so he took out his sword and floated up so it was, the blade having more weight than before, because of the air pressure. He was going to land face first, and kept the sword ahead in place, to cut whatever, aiming more for the web than anything at all.

Upon impact, the sword sliced into the web and he saw there was actually a secret passage that led down to another area of the place? He heard water, so it must have been an underground stream, maybe there was a river under the Deku Tree, which was why they always received fresh water. Through the familiar room he passed and down a longer room that had to have at least been three hundred feet down, more than he could have imagined. His screams echoed as he kept the sword forward and shut his eyes tightly. After a few seconds, he let the sword, if he was gonna die, he didn't need to land on that. And the sword went forward back into the air. Pushing his shield infront of his body, he curled up and sobbed.

_--------------------_

Navi sensed the monster coming, and as she turned around and screamed Link's name, he was gone, and there was nothing she could do. No, he was gone! No, it couldn't end this way, no. She was his! He was hers! Growling and cursing at the monster, it had gone away, she raced down the passage and saw Link as he neared the end of the road. He would smash and would be no more, just Baba food, and just a smash upon the pavement that would be nothing to recover from.

She-She wouldn't make it! Racing down, she saw his sword come out and stared as he split the ground open? No, it was a web, why hadn't he noticed earlier? Down through the web he went and she put her flying into turbo. Racing down the corridor, she saw the sword as it floated just past her, catching it and shoving it downward. Racing past all that seemed well, a figure impacted into the water, deep and clog, with a shield protecting his body.

_--------------------_

He must have been out for a good while, because when he woke, he could hear the darkness of the night, the night echoing harder. Was he dead? Was he somewhere in his wildest dreams? Looking forward, he saw it again, the man, the man from what he guessed the Desert, could they be one in the same, well could they? It was highly possible, the same evil he saw here, he couldn't imagine coming from anyone else, and no he never imagined anything this bad.

He was dressed in black and had the darkest skin ever seen on anything, all the Kokiiris were pale-skinned, so tan was weird, but this man was almost black. Much taller than him, but not the Deku Tree, the man threw out something of yellow that burst past his skin and sent him crying out. The light that was there faded, as he went into eternal darkness and cried out more for help, seeing no one (not even Navi) around to help him face the evil.

_--------------------_

Throwing himself up, he felt the cool water of the Kokiiri; it had the sweeter taste of sugar in it, something that she never understood. Eyes weren't open yet, though he heard a voice around and another one, a weirder one that sounded like Navi when she was cussing. Another feminine voice surrounded in the fairish language, the boy still not clear who it was, not that he could ask who it was. It was way out of the question, since he wasn't moving, the pain in his body making him summon up the strength to sit up, or try to sit up. Shivering for a few moments, the power finally came from deep in the soul, the enticing feeling was back, something he had felt when first finding the sword. Wow, it was just a dream, just a dream, and he knew it, because he was woken up like that.

"Link! You okay, Linky!" A voice, some beautiful voice, but the dread that this wasn't a dream and that he was in, this was not a dream for all his senses were back. Yes, opening his eyes revealed he was still in the Deku Tree and indeed it was night, because he heard the night faries giving off there beat. Even deep in the tree, he could still head it, the sounds of the fairies as they did their nightly ritual before they went to sleep. Looking up, a huge amount of pain went in his head, and he held it, turning up towards the beautiful angel, yes the angel with wings.

She was sitting on his nose and looking at him, muttering something in her language, but no, it wasn't an angel at all, though it did have wings. "Navi?"

"Oh, thank the Goddess. I thought you had cracked your skull open." The last of the ancient words stopped as he felt the headache lift from him, and caught the gleam of something at his side, a bright pink. Whatever it was, it was hurting his eyes whenever he looked over at it with those slanted eyes, beginning to peek open at her. Hee, it was a farie, but not like Navi, this fairie was covered in an aura, just like her with the pinkish tint instead of the blue one, it was weird. The fairie was something he had never seen, all the ones in the forest were either blue or sometimes green, an occasional yellow ones. This one was wore a hot pink veil, and was nuzzling against his face tenderly, speaking in a feminine ancient language, the fairish.

"W-what happened?"

"Well, a Skulltulla fell down and knocked you off the edge, and well you used your instincts and survived by cutting open this secret passage. Using your shield was smart too." Waving her hand over, she showed him the shield that was flat out dented from his body imprint. "There is water, but you landed on a dry piece of rock and lucky you used that shield. Anyway, you hit your head and so I am healing you."

"Whose this?" A new ally was at his disposal, and he felt himself being lighted up a little, his power was not returning, just temporarily rejuvenating.

"Oh, that is a healing farie, I don't know her name, but I had her in a bottle and she is healing your head injury." They had received her earlier; well the girl had gotten them from the Deku Tree in which she had just taken in confusingly. The tree simply said that she might need it, not even leaving the girl enough time to answer her questions.

"Hee, she's so cute." Lifting his fingers upward, he tickled at the little farie and heard a small giggle and something in that farie language.

"She can't speak the normal tongue, Link, but she said her name is Jivu and to stop that, while she is working." The small pink farie stopped the healing, as the feeling returned through his whole body and it went up on his cheek kissing it, before floating up and out of the Deku Tree.

Flushing, he looked up at Navi, and giggled a little, a little saddened when she disappeared. "Where did she go, Navi?"

"After they heal, they return to their mistress, the Great Farie. There aren't any fountains here, but who knows, maybe one day one will come out here. There are five of them, but I am sure they might come out to be closer to our faries, but sometimes the stray fairies hang around the Lost Woods to see other forest fairies." Other fairies, he only thought there were the Forest fairies, it was nice to hear about the other ones.

"Hee, oh. So, how long have I been out?"

"Oh, let's see. I think about six hours. These faries are slow healing, so I am guessing all and all we have been in this tree about eight hours. All your pain isn't gone, we just healed you enough so you can get through here, then you will have to go to sleep for a while."

"Humph, I wanted to finish this in half an hour. Are we almost done?" His concussion, he guessed it was that, left him out for a while, but right now he was a little tired--though overall okay.

"According to the map, no. But, I don't know, this map is so old." Also the fact was that the thing felt like it was rotting, she shivered holding it in her hands.

Pushing himself up, he looked off at the entire scenery and shook his head sadly. "This just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it?"

"At least this room is clear of enemies, I mean, it would have been hard-…oh!" She raced onward and began to wade through the water until finally she threw out the blade and pushed his shield over at him. "There, thought I lost that, for a minute there."

Nodding, he stood himself up, from the mess and stared around the room once more, getting a better view of it now, since he was wide awake. It was indeed an underground stream and there seemed to be no way up, so they might as well go explore, find the monster here. Picking his sword up, he turned around as he heard a scuttling sound, the sound of something following him, so that was when he reacted. Spinning around again, he saw nothing and shrugged it off, it was probably just his overactive imagination at work, and he was still half-asleep. One further investigation there was right near some sort of switch and unlit torch. Stomping on the switch, the torch went to life and he warmed his wet clothes on it. Across was a little shallow end and another portion that was covered by a web.

"I am gonna try something--stay here."

"But, Link!"

"Navi, hee, I am not gonna do something stupid, again."

Not waiting for an argument, he put out one of the Deku Sticks and lit it with the torch, the end of it beginning to burn, but it didn't burn up. The stick just caught fire and stayed burning, according to the other Kokiiri this thing could have been burning for quite a while, so he had himself some time. Running forward, he leapt across the water and moved over towards where the web was, slinging the thing forward to catch onto something. Placing it on the web, it went out in a burst of flames, clearing a path. Dipping the stick in the water, he put it back in his back, and waved over for her.

She raced over with his shield and sword, and after some item alternations he was back to normal, having his things back in place. The Kokiiri blade was placed in his left hand, while the shield went for the right one, giving him some easy access, before he bent the shield back. Inside the front of the side pack were the Farie Slingshot and some Deku Nuts, and the Deku Sticks strapped on his right side and the nuts on the left. Pockets were assigned all in the side pack, so that he would be able to get to them, he left it opens for some easy access to get it. Through that he entered a small door that was hidden behind the web, the door one of those doors that just slid up in the way when you touched it.

Inside that door, there was an even smaller room with a familiar-looking bush, something he had seen in a previous room. This time he was ready, backing up until another familiar looking Deku fired a nut, and when it fired, instead of standing there, he rushed at the nut pushing it against the thing's skull. The nut wasn't just reflected that time, the thing was up against the skull, yet slammed at a very tremendous speed, stopping the assault. Squealing, the nut hit with a forceful impact, but even before it could escape, he had it pinned and was sitting on top of the heavy burden. Smirking, he reached for the blade, sliding the dull end across its hide, which it cried out in surprise, even false pain for not being hurt.

"Ah! Master; please spare me, if you do. I will tell you something cool." Just like the last time, he hoped he wasn't going to spit on, but nevertheless it could be useful so he listened.

"Hrm…maybe."

"U-um, please! Ooh, okay! My brothers up ahead are much stronger and there is only one way. The order is 2-3-1. Twenty-three to one! Remember that." And with that, he pushed away and burrowed itself back into the bush.

"2-3-1? Navi? You get that?"

"Yea, but I don't understand." The little farie flew over and perched she upon his hat, looking up at something, putting the little code in the back of her mind. _Hmm? What was that?_ "There are bars over the door, try hitting that eye with a shot."

Indeed, over the doors were bars that he obviously couldn't break with any tool at his disposal, the sword would just get bent hitting the thing. Maybe if he had some Kokiirish tools along he could break it, but he didn't feel like climbing back up the long hole and then sliding back down. Above that was a metal incased figure of an eye, looking like something out a Buddhist religion or something like that. Taking his aim with his own fingers, he picked it in a slow-motion type, seeing what would happen if he shot it then, and nailing it imaginatively. Picking his sling with one seed, he shot at the eye, the seed bouncing right in the center of it and a small creaking sound occurring as the bars went up, the door shutting.

"Good thinking, Navi!" Curling about his fingers, he picked her up and gently petted her body with soft digits, them caressing her up for what he called a simple thank-you. Before residing her on his hat, he walked over and checked the door, seeing that if it was stuck were one of the bars had made a bad impression. Simple enough, but still looked a little stuck, so he could have kicked it in, but since they were in the tree there was the possibility of something spring in on him. Taking the hilt of his sword, he swung it, and the door swished open without any hassle at all, pushing the fairie back on his head, the sword going back to its spot.

Smiling at his marksmanship, the boy looked at the door, watching the entrance and walked through the entrance with his arms at his sides. "There we go, that should do it."

The next room was a sight for sour eyes, the place was a regular maze of traps, it was sad that the monster was so smart to create all this. It was submerged, basically, with the platform he was on, and on the other side was another, and one small island that floated back and forth. Mmhm, and of course a black log with spikes sticking out it, rotating back and forth, creating a problem since if he went under there was the chance he would hit the spikes on accident. Now there was another chance that the spikes would follow him, so he picked up a stone, throwing it up above the spike, the tool moving on a mechanical device and rising as the stone went over. It didn't move, but swished along the water. Interesting enough, the platform blocked anyway from getting under without cutting your throat on the spikes.

"Problem."

"Indeed," responded the little farie. This is indeed a problem, how can we get across? She didn't trust herself to carry him. Maybe there is? "Maybe there is a switch underwater, you go under and check because if there is, I won't be able to push it."

Without hesitation, he dove into the water, and searched the bottom of the left side with his hands; there was the only way to do. Hoping that there weren't any traps underwater, his hands groped around while those eyes remained shut, holding his breath deeply. No equipment for seeing underwater, so he was as blind as a bat until he hit it, it seemed to be in the shape of a block when he grabbed it. Yes!

It was a switch and pushing down on it, a ticking sound came out, and the ticking he could feel under the water, even from that altitude. It reminded him of the room with the blocks, his own mind going for the realization that this wasn't just a reminder, it was the same thing! Ticking? Clock, time? A time limit! Sprinting back into the water, which seemed shorter than before. He found an eager Navi waving frantically at him.

"The water drained, come on, get on the platform before it sounds. A timer has sounded!" It was exciting at the rush of a timer, though he was a little worried; a timer could mean bad things.

Sprinting backward, he scooped her up and jumped, just as the platform was taking off from their location, landing on the black platform just as it was onward. Onto it they want, and he ducked under the black 'log', as the time sounded faster and faster, all the more nervous when it ended. He was away from it less than ten seconds before the water raised back up, and parts of the island being lopped off, gasping in fear. Turning around, half of the island was indeed gone, worried that if he had been on the edge that he wouldn't be around anymore. If he had been there, oh, he just blocked that out of his mind. The end of the road was only a few feet, and before he knew it, the boy was climbing up onto the other ledge and looking forward.

"That was close, Linky…you'd better being more careful around here. This place is filled with traps, and from the looks of it, they aren't friendly."

"Mmhm, thank you Navi, there was a switch. Hee, if I had been there a few seconds earlier, I would have been a sandwich. Hrm, what is this?" From looking forward, he saw another web, but it was empty with a large block and a path that was engraved for the block. Upward you could stand on the rock and climb up to a new place, maybe an exit?

With all the luck, a few seconds before he touched down, another Skulltulla showed up, this one not as friendly as the rest, one of the big ones. This one was much slower and much easier to deal with, and with one quick stab to the back, it was down for the match, just as stupid as the others. Slinging it aside, he walked over to the boulder and began to push on it, pushing harder and harder upon it so that it would move. No such luck, the thing weighed about five hundred pounds, nothing was going to get it to move and now it seemed so much impossible. Gasping loudly, the boy slammed his fist into the thing at the top, nothing happening at all, knowing that if he leapt for the ledge he wouldn't land.

"No, this can't stop us, Navi." We have come so far, and there is no way back!" Link squealed a little, slamming his fist into the square middle of the rock, but this time something did happen to the rock, this time was different. There was supposed to have been pain an immense pain he would feel for punching the rock, but there was none at all, there seemed to be nothing. Just a stretching mark as if something had been set off, and that it was, because when he hit the middle a portion of the rock slid in, only about a small square. Next, the rock moved up until it was, at last, at the end of the grinding path and held a way out, giving him the room that he needed to climb it. When he would climb it, the boy could get his way and up on the ledge.

"Wow, Link. I guess you don't know your own strength, Eh? Mm, you must have set off some sort of passage. Looks like your skills got us out of this one." She would have easily carried him up; it wasn't as dangerous as spikes, if he fell. Only about seven feet up.

"Hee, well, I got us out of this one, Navi!" He pulled her off of his hat, and smothered her with the warm embrace, kissing and letting out a lashing of tenderness.

"A-ah, Link! S-stop it, the mission, oh!" She couldn't help it, and began to give back into the hug, stroking that strong and beautiful…boyish face, with his hands.

Finally, getting a hold of himself, he put her onto the top of his nose and pushed up on the boulder, taking the boulder and rubbing it. Finely shaped it was, and didn't take long to mount before pulling himself up into a dark corridor, where there was no where to go. Sometimes the boy wished he could have a torch or something, Navi's light could brighten a whole room, but for some reason it didn't work here. There was only one lit torch and two more were unlit, with a locked door. This did not take much time, as he took the other side of the already burnt Deku Stick and ran around the room lighting all three of the torches. This opened up the door, throwing the burnt stick down; he walked down into the next room. Unfortunately, the exit looked a million miles from here.

Another boring room, but this room had two exits. One was a crawl space; the other was webbed and could be burned by the nearby torch, ready for him to light if need be done. Putting up the sword and shield, he took out a Deku Stick and lit it on the torch, and passing through the middle of the room, heard a weird noise. Like a frog, but at the same time had an eerie feeling to it. Hrm, no bother, he got to the end of the room when a thump made him jump.

Turning around, he saw the ugliest thing he'd ever seen. It was a spider, or at least a mutated kind, about half his height with razor sharp claws barred at him. At the same time, it wasn't an anarchic. The beast had only two legs and a single orangish-yellow eye, with a green pupil. The thing spelt trouble, so; he ran for the web and lit it on fire. As soon as he ran, three more dropped, and all charged at the same exact moment.

"N-navi, what are those?"

"I-I-I don't know, Link. I have never seen them, but-- run!" No second repeating for him, because he took off when only a portion of the web was burned, and jumped onward, pushing through the door, and slamming it shut.

"We are safe Navi. Navi? Navi!" Turning around, he heard a shriek and pounding, opening up the door, saw one of the monsters had her, and leaping forward, at the same moment pulling out two nuts, slammed them against the spider's head. Three of them paralyzed, because they were together, and he snatched Navi, pushing his way out of here and back into the new room.

"Y-you okay!"

"Mmhm, Link." She just glared at him for a few seconds, before punching him in the cheek, not that hardly, though still with a little roughness. "You left me! Ooh! Linky, I can't believe you!"

"I'm sorry! I-I didn't know you were--" but he trailed off and looked at the room, amazed. "Navi, we are back. We are on the new platform, and oh my Goddess!" He ran forward and tried punching the thing in the middle, as the block went forward, and this time, the new block clapped into the water and gave them a new entrance towards the fire.

"Link, don't change the subject!" She trailed off, giving a small sigh, how could she stay mad at him? He was so cute! Fluttering over on his shoulder, she hugged him and nodded. "You are forgiven, only because of the mission." My Goddess, when did I get all buddy-buddy with him?

Sticking her on his hat, he jumped over, with the opposite end of the other stick and moved over at the torch, using it now for some preparations. Lighting this one up, he ran over towards the new entrance and threw it down on the webbed entrance, knowing it was too sticky to cut. Falling through it did, and revealed a similar path towards before, except this one had a vine ladder that led down, letting the stick go alone when it fell. Summoning up the strength, he climbed down the hundreds of feet in the pitch black until at last he saw a torched up room. Dropping the last three feet, he saw three bushes and a room that looked like the end of the line. It was engraved in gold with the indication of a spider on it.

"I see Deku bushes, Navi, what about 2-3-1?"

"Well, I think, maybe you should fight them from the middle, last, and first. Two is the middle, three is the last, and one is the first. Try it, but be careful, you have never faced three at once."

Stepping out of the water, and four feet on the surface, he heard the shuffles of the bushes and saw three Deku Scrubs stand up. These were about twice as big as the last one, and a lot bigger than Link, they looked more vicious and not at all cowardly like their siblings. Gasping a little, he saw the nuts fly, wincing at them for a few seconds, before taking the shield out and regaining his courage back. Leaning forward, the boy would take the other two hits, giving the other at the middle guy in the full frontal assault, taking the good with the bad. They were all headed, but he leapt forward and pushed the middle one into the middle's face, letting out a shriek, it froze in some sort of purple mass, but the other two hit Link with full force, taking the boy's breath away.

"Linky!"

"I'm oka-!"

Leaping forward, he pushed the second nut into the last one's face, which again paralyzed it in a purple gooey mass, giving him only one more down. Another shriek, but instead of getting hit again, he slammed the first nut, with the shield, into the first ones' face. It seemed to have worked, except this one didn't freeze and took off, the others seemed to be frozen in the mass, not going anywhere else. Giving a growl of frustration, the young boy took off after the monster, determined to catch him in his own tracks, beat him at the game. Oh, this one was definitely faster than the other was three. After chasing the guy for three minutes, Link plopped onto of the Deku bush as the thing stopped and gasped, falling to his knees.

"Oh, forgive master, but how did you ever know out secret!"

"Hee, it worked, Navi. Um, one of your brothers told me."

"What! I-I-I will surely pound those little-- please let me go, master! I will tell you a secret about our mistress."

"Alright." Mistress usually meant the boss; this was worth listening, so he nodded his head, since the last clue had come in handy.

"Well, to give the coup de grade to the Parasitic Armoured Arachnid, Gohma, wait until the eyes are red." Kicking Link away, it scuttled back into the bush, along with the other of its three brothers.

"Gohma?" Pondered Navi, as she flew over with two small little bottles. They were shaped like hearts and had red juice in them.

"What are those, Navi?"

"Oh, keep these in your pack, they restore your health. You seem all right, well, no. Take one now."

"I am fine, Navi. I think I can handle this Gohma." A little too cocky, especially not knowing what he is going into.

"Alright, but stick it in your pack, nevertheless."

Nodding, away it went into his side pack, not even feeling the need to keep one now Standing up, and stretching, he went over to the water and sipped it down. It was clean, a little Lake Water, but clean as it could be inside of a tree. Searching through the bushes, he found about ten more Deku Seeds and some Deku Nuts. Stuffing them in the slots, he went back and rested onto of the third bush. "I need a little break."

"No, Link. Come on, we need to-go?" Beyond disbelief, she watched as he fell asleep right before her eyes, the tiredness had really gotten to him.

_Asleep?_ He was asleep on the job, and whatever was infecting the Deku Tree was inside there. Scurrying up to his ear, she whispered. "Whatever is in there, might be tired of a Great Tree and will come out for some Kokiiri. Not you, but maybe," dare she say it? Yep, she said it. "The one and only, Saria."

Let us just say, he was awake two seconds later, with the sword put in his left hand, and the bent Deku Shield in his right. Moving forward, he nodded, rubbing those tender cerulean hues. "Alright, Navi, let us go. I mean, we need to fight this Arachnid, anyway. Navi, what is an arachnid?"

"A spider, Link. What he meant was parasitic, or diseased. Armoured, well, you know. Arachnid, or spider, named Gohma." She shivered a little; the main powerhouse of this place must've been some little spider.

"S-spider?" Link shivered just a little bit more than usual and looked off to the side, not scared, just shaken up a bit.

"Mmhm. Linky, come on, don't tell me you are afraid of a little spider?"

"No, no. Of course not, you just surprised me there." He played it off and smiled sweetly over towards her, nodding his head compassionately.

"Hmm, alright, then. Let's go."

"Yes, let's."

With that, he walked over towards the big door, pushing against it for one second. Whatever happened, he had her. He had Saria waiting, and the Deku Tree was here all around, guiding him. Giving him weapons, tools, and the guidance of it all. Yes, the boy could do this. Mido was wrong, he wasn't a loser, he could fight, and he had shown it. He has a warrior's presence. The Deku Tree said so, and he wouldn't lie, would he? Shrugging it off, he pushed the door open, and kept it that way, for the sake of Navi. Taking three steps away from the door, just out of door-sight, it slammed shut behind him. Nearly shrieking, he turned around, and ran over, beating on it.

He could hear a tugging on his shoulder that was what he needed to cheer him back up. "Linky, Linky, Shh. It's, okay, I'm here. We will face this together."

Calming himself down, he nodded, and smiled. "I am just a little jumpy, those usually don't close on there own, hee." Gulping, a little too loudly, a look around showed that they were in a dark room with only the mist around. Somehow, light was illuminating and glowing around the bottom of the room, but it wasn't normal light, it was moonlight. Yes, somehow different from the Kokiiri moonlight, but yet all the same. Shivering from the cold, he stared forward, only pillars were seen, but no Gohma. This skirt didn't help either; it had to be 40 degrees in here! All right, maybe Gohma went away; maybe he is a wimp?

"Maybe Gohma ran away?"

"Don't think so, Linky, I can definitely feel evil in here."

"Yeah, you encouraged me, Navi."

"Link, quiet. You need to listen for him. Calm down and concentrate, you can do this." Before the boy could even gesture some concentration, a sound erupted from their conversation, blocking the chilling silence out.

-_Shrikjuu _

It was like a roar, of a frog, or something like it. It reminded him of those things he had seen earlier, except this one was twenty times as loud, and looking around, a light sounded out of the middle of nowhere. This light was an orange, with a bit of yellow, and sort of like the sunsets from the Lost Woods. Hrm, could day be here, he wondered. No, it was coming from the top of the pillars. Staring upward, he saw something that made his heart stop and all of the courage in that tender flesh, turn hauling itself. On there was the biggest thing he had ever seen, except the Deku Tree, of course, but this thing wasn't friendly.

He didn't even have time to visualize the whole thing, and turned around, dashing out of the room, screaming. "Gohma is a girl! Those were its babies!"

_--------------------_

The creature, Gohma, had been studying the two ever since they had entered its lair. The small one was nothing more than a small snack, but this bigger one, this it could actually feed off of. She knew nothing of where she was, born to the world only months ago, but now she saw the most beautiful thing in the world. Living off of Deku Scrubs seemed to be old, and this was flesh, not wood or rock. Thanks to one of its children, the door was shut, blocking off the escape for the two trespassers. Yes, they were in here territory and it was time to pay the piper.

The tender one had noticed him and ran, so with a one huge smash, it jumped from its spot and scurried after it. This would have made the events a lot more fun, she knew it, and that's how she went about it. Chasing after the prey was the best part, so that would make things a lot more interesting. Sure, she wasn't one of the faster creatures, but surely stronger than this one. Actually, it went against the door and began to paw on it, crying in some tongue she didn't understand, but this didn't affect her. Nothing did, she just stared the creature down, imaging what it would look like with the clothes off, those nasty materials pulled aside. One armoured claw pushed down, holding the creature down, and ripped the clothing off. It was simply beautiful.

_--------------------_

"Linky! Wait!" Navi screamed, when she heard the scream. What was he talking about, a girl? Then, of course, she looked up and gasped. It looked just like those creatures before, but with more legs and with a mouth-like structure. More evolution, obviously, but Navi followed it as the monster went after Link. Was it because he was bigger than she was? Maybe this was her first time seeing Kokiiri flesh of any kind? There were just scrubs down here and the occasional Baba. Racing after the monster, it scurried in her face, but was pushed aside with a claw, and it hurt a little, not enough to make her back off, though.

"Wait and fight Link!" Of course she was shivering too, knowing that they weren't ready for this, unprepared was a better word. Fighting was what she needed, as unprepared as she was, the preparation was in order. Eyes widened a little when she saw the beast actually pin the boy down and ripped his clothing off, so he was wearing absolutely nothing at all! Flying across her face, she continued to glow and try to blind the monster with her entire aura. She knew that the monster had to be blinded and right now this was her only defense..

_--------------------_

He should have waited; he should have been calm. But no, being the coward he was, he ran. Now pinned against the wall, seeing the monster in its true colours. It was at least thirty feet tall, and wide as a house, with six legs sticking out. Arachnids were supposed to have eight, though, this one probably had two hidden ones? He didn't look, all he did was star into those golden glazed eyes, with the green pupil. It was almost hypnotizing, when his clothes were ripped off, he knew it was over.

Nothing could come out of his mouth, he was a little speechless and there he looked over towards her. It was no use; Navi was not there to comfort him in the presence of this huge and obnoxious thing. The hunkering body was surrounded before him; so much that looking for comfort was not an option. This thing was going to eat him, the quest had failed, and he had underestimated Gohma and was now going to pay. The clothes were thrown aside, nothing but rags now and it didn't matter, besides he was dead meat, anyway.

_--------------------_

It wouldn't end this way, because the little insect-like creature flew right into Gohma's path and began to illuminate the brightest aura it could. It was a tiresome creature and so this creature would have to be taken care of. When it was out of commission, then the monster could go after the tastier one, the Kokiiri. This upset the monster more than the big one's struggles, so it threw a claw of and slashed the insect away. Direct hit, the thing slammed into the nearby wall, and she just stared at it, a showing the best move of a smirk that it could. At the same time, letting her guard down of the creature.

_--------------------_

_What? Navi? Navi!_ He watched as his partner was slammed into the ground, blood guzzling from the little body, not much, but he didn't know how much they had. Seeing his chance, he leapt around and grabbed his clothing, putting on the rags, measly. His under area was covered, but the shirt still exposed to the rest of the world. Moving at a running speed, he rolled forward towards the sword and shield, at least thirty feet away, and put them both up for stance. Gohma must have noticed this because she went flying at the little young one, in a fury of rage.

_--------------------_

_How dare it!_ How dare it take advantage of her and run away. The monster charged up at the little boy with full force. It was tired of playing and was going to kill the little thing now, and then it would go after the insect. Pushing forward, the claw slashed across his chest, leaving a mark that would show for odds end. It leapt back for the throat, but never made it, something hit it and the thing was paralyzed.

_--------------------_

Pain erupted as blood gushed from the small wound. It would leave a scar, but as Gohma threw back her claw, he reached into his pocket. The eye is red. _Maybe this'll work? My last chance._ Throwing a Deku nut directly into her eye area, the orb flashed red when the Gohma stopped. It worked? It worked! Pulling back the sword, he slammed forward into the monster's eye, pushing forward until the creature was blinded. Watching amazed, as it went the opposite direction and scurried back up a pillar.

_--------------------_

_What? No, it couldn't see! There was no sight._ No matter, its smell was just as accurate; the creature would pay for taking away one of its only joys. Sight was beautiful, but not anymore, it would never see again. Curse the creature! Moving up towards the top of the pillar, it had an idea. Let her babies take her sight for her? Mmhm, that was the plan, and so its abdomen went down, and it began to prepare to lay a few eggs for this creature. Oh, it was checking up, she would take its friend.

_--------------------_

Turning around, he sprinted over towards where Navi was, and checked up on her. He knew it was stupid, but he was worried and for good cause. She had lost a lot of blood, but was watching the battle, eagerly. Tenderly, he held out on of the jars to her, and she took if with good cause. The scene was good and would have remained if Gohma hadn't shot a web out, which picked Navi up and threw her against the other wall. Staring in disbelief, he looked up at the smirking Gohma. Eyes began to dilate, Link's that is, when he saw what had happened to Navi. She was unconscious, possibly dying, those hues filled with tears.

"No, no, no, no!"

_-Shrikjuu _

_Gohma's stupid sound!_ Lifting up the sword, he charged back to where she was and began to curse. He didn't even know how to curse, but the sounds came out with full force. It made no sense; it was like some spirit that was restless possessed him.

"No! Why did you take her away, you piece of shit! She never did anything to you. No! You will pay with your fucking life!" His rage formed, the words that came out made no sense to him, though in this state, he kept on with it.

Three eggs dropped from the ground, which Link held the sword and spun around in a quick turn, slicing the eggs all from the top corners. The babies were instantly decapitated and put to rest, and of course this angered Gohma because she came down, only a few feet from him. This time, the boy was ready, pulling out another nut, and throwing it towards the spider's face, he leapt forward once more and slammed the sword around two of its' legs. They instantly fell off, and the monster scurried back upwards. This time, he had her, however, and leapt upon the body, slicing all but one leg off.

_--------------------_

This was disastrous! Her children had been decimated in one quick slash from that pointed metal and two of its legs had come off. To make matters much worse, that creature had leapt onto her body and four more off. That left here with only one limb and not enough to climb back up. This was going to die, she didn't know what she did to anger it, but she really regretted it. Maybe hurting the insect was a bad idea? It seemed to increase the strength of this usually weak creature, but if it was so weak how did it get past all the traps and mazes? The monsters in here? Maybe she had under given this creature for its true strength. Rearing back, she charged again.

_--------------------_

This is it, the final confrontation, would she win, or would he? He didn't know as she charged at him, but instead of running. He just grinned a little. It was actually funny, but how was it? How could he be happy when Navi- and the boy jumped through the air once more, this time leaping over the beast and throwing the shield. Deku slashed against her face and stunned her for a few seconds; the nuts had spilled, so he relied on this.

Giving a charging run, Link jumped forward and landed onto the creature. Pulling the sword forward and slashing back, he literally cut through the armour. This usually wouldn't work, but there was so much determination in him. So much hidden power, and so much fury that it did. The shell cracked open and the sword plunged inside, cutting the monster in two.

"Kyaaii!" It gave one long screech before the heart was punctured and it turned into nothing but a carcass. The weird thing was that before the boy a blue fire began to encircle the body. Leaping off and running for Navi, the fire burned the body until it was nothing but ashes, and the wind picked up from somewhere, blowing the ashes away. Scooping up the little farie, Link kissed her forehead and felt for breathing. Yes, there was some. Checking the slots, he looked disappointed, the juices had disappeared?

One was cracked and the one by Navi was already drained. Moving over with her, he placed her in his clasped hands, about to head for the door when he saw the blue light again. This time it formed what looked an entrance, some sort of portal? Moving forward almost mesmerized, he entered the light and felt the wound begin to restore itself. A scar was left, but the wound hurt no more and Navi began to heal also. Funny thing was, he felt stronger, and some new strength was opened inside of him, because the power felt enormous. Moving more into the light, the dark room disappeared from sight.


	3. Chapter II From the Forest to the World

-1Chapter II: From the Forest to the World.

Copyright: I do not own Zelda, Nintendo does. Story by Habuki productions.

A new place, this was, where were they, this was not the same place that the two of them had been a few minutes ago. It was hard to determine the place, he wasn't sure if he was in the same place, that blue light was all he remembered. Such an infamous light, it seemed to be neither bad nor good, the shallow light had engulfed him. No, it was old, and suddenly he fell onto the ground right beside the Deku Tree where he had stood about nine hours ago. Surprised, he stared in disbelief as the Great Deku Tree's entrance shut and it looked upon him with wonder.

"G-Great Deku Tree! Was it a dream?"

"No, young warrior, not a dream. Thou has proven thyself, survived the dungeon and came forth. Thou has indeed proven thyself."

At the time, Navi seemed to be coming too, and fluttered over towards the Deku Tree, amazed. "Great Deku Tree? Are we done, are you cured?" Then she turned on Link and swept into his arms, nuzzling him. "Linky! You did it!"

He held her in his palms and collapsed on the ground, nodding eagerly. "Mmhm, I did it, Navi. No, we did it. When she hit you, I-I just couldn't control my body anymore--" He was about to finish, but the great tree interrupted him and so that's when it spoke its own mind.

"That was thou's warrior's spirit, young Link. When a loved in danger, the spirit arises and allowed thou to defeat the dreaded Gohma." It was an honor to see a young developing warrior at work, though it was all in deep vain.

"So, Great Deku Tree are you cured?" The boy answered enthusiastically, though he knew the answer, of course he was well, they had beaten the toxic spider, that was the end of it.

"Unfortunately not." The vain had been shown, the spider had been beaten, though the tree's time had come long ago.

"Great Deku Tree, you aren't serious!" The boy and partner both blurted out, astounded. How could he not be healed? They beat Gohma, together, and that monster was burned into ashes, then spread to the world.

"This was a test, young warrior. I was doomed before thou even started. This was a test to prove if thou could save the world." It was true, he was going to die either way, and it was just the spider had to have been taken care off. Otherwise, when the tree died, it would of gone out and decided to famish on the young Kokiiri children. Who knew what was next, the tree had known what to do from the start, and had taken it into his own hands. To decide to test to the boy hadn't been his decision, it had come in a dream, one that pronounced the boy without a fairie's destiny began today. He knew it was a sad fate, he had no idea what the boy was in for, but he knew he'd meet it head-on.

"World! What do you mean, Great Deku Tree?" The world of Hyrule was what awaited him, but he had always been told that he'd die if he left.

"Link, thou has proven thyself. Yea, your victory was celebrated, but not for I. Hyrule, the world, is in danger by the man from the desert. His name is not known, but I want you to leave the forest." A sulked tone was enraged inside of the tree's voice, as it spoke of the destiny that awaited the boy and his fairie.

Navi chirped in with a bit of worry in her voice, not just for the tree's unfortunate passing coming about, but more about her boy and his fate. "Great Deku Tree, he'll die!"

"No, thou is different, Link. Thou will survive. Thou must go to a place called Hyrule castle and see the Princess of Destiny. There, thou will learn of what is to be. Please, take this jewel, this is what the man in the desert wanted so bad that he put a curse on me." A man, a dreaded dark-skinned man had done this and revenge was not only his choice, he wanted Link to prove himself to the world, to change it.

From up above, a light appeared and gleaming down was something surrounded by an aura. The aura was pure green and inside the thing fell into Link's hands. It was an emerald, beautiful and green, something of a brooch that went on a specific body part. Link studied it with awe, and placed it inside his pack, before looking up. "You can't die, Great Deku Tree. No! I saved you!"

"Good-bye Link, hero of time. Goodbye Navi, guard Link well and take him to Hyrule. Be with him always and never leave his side. Goodbye-" The last words were cut off when a cracking sound occurred. All around him, the bushes and the trims of the Deku Tree began to petrify; each of them began to do it. The grass about twenty feet across was also beginning to turn to stone, dying along with the tree. The stony grass came under his feet and he was standing upon it as he watched the tree's infamous death. It went one for a few seconds and before Link knew it, the once Great Deku Tree was now a statue.

"Link, it's- okay. Shh." She came over and fluttered up to his face, seeing the tears matted on his face, they were stained there. The boy was deeply sad, of course he would be, this guardian was his own creator and there was nothing that could stop that. He risked his life and for what, there was this stone and a way to go, but not the satisfaction of winning, so what did he get? Nothing! Pounding on the ground, where he sat, the boy looked down and sobbed deeply, his eyes pounding out with tears. Such a sad sight and Navi was about to leave him is, when he called out for his own, to sort out his feelings.

"Don't leave, you aren't supposed too, remember?" Stretched fingers curled her up, and placing himself on the ground, kissed and fiddled with the farie for the next twenty minutes, while letting the rest of his tears out. They were quiet because when she talked he didn't listen, or was too busy sobbing. When the boy did try to speak they came out in gibberish. Finally, half an hour later, he simply picked her put while strapping the shield and sword back on, pulled out the jewel and headed out. She was in the left hand, while the jewel was in the right.

"What do you think this is for?" He was referring to the jewel that was held in his hand, studying the beautiful emerald with passion.

"I don't know, I've never seen it." And she hadn't ever laid eyes on it, she didn't know such treasures existed in this forest. A good thing no one had ever heard of it, the Kokiiri or fairies might get a little greedy and go for it. The fairies more often than the others, the Kokiiri followed a bartering system, aside the jewels in the stores, and greed wasn't such here. The fairies, on the other hand, sometimes were allowed to go out on their own and could see real money. Now if they had ever laid eyes upon the princess of Destiny's fortune--which she hadn't--it might turn a few heads. "Linky?"

"Hrm?" He looked over towards her when his name was called, the tears had begun to calm down, and they were subsiding.

"You gonna be okay? I mean, we can stop and you can take a few minutes to calm down." She sighed, she hated to see him like this, he was like a puppy that had lost its mother, and he seemed lost. When she spoke that though, he perked over and shook his head, as if he was getting better, he smiled.

"No, we have to go now. I am fine, remember, I am a hero and they are strong and courageous." He would be brave, not just for himself, but also to show to her that he just wasn't a little boy--he was a hero now.

"Even if no one thinks you are one, your mine, okay?" The way she spoke that caused him to smile a little bit and he nodded somewhat towards her.

"Hee, not if your mine, too." He looked down and kissed her face before, taking the jewel and pinning it up against his hand, there he tied it upon there. Studying his craftsmanship of the tying, he began to walk a little funny, like the royalty did in the weird stories.

"L-Linky? What are you, hee, what are you doing!" He had sat her on he shoulder and stared to walk like a lady, like a prim and proper princess.

"Well, we are going to see a princess, aren't we? I have to be more lady-like, y'know, like in the story?" He couldn't tell which story, but it made him feel better, and with a smile given towards her, he slipped it off, placing it in his palms, for better safekeeping.

Sighing, it seemed this was going to be a long and hard journey, though not exactly a bad one. Moving forward, she scooped the jewel up, and put it down in his pocket, taking it from his palm. Inside his hand, it could have been lost easier, this way it was stored around with his weapons. None of them had slipped out during the temple, and as rough as that was, she knew the forest couldn't be as bad. That was a good thing, because the two of them were gonna have to deal with another obstacle up ahead. "Come on, Linky, let's get past Mido and go to Saria. You do want to see her-"

"Oh, yes. She can't go. Humph. Yea, let's go see her." He did want to go see her before he left; she had made herself a very good point to know about it.

The Deku Babas were gone for now, when he passed through, but he dashed through pretty quickly, so if they were there he missed them. Even if he had come upon, he would have simply slashed them through and continued on. After Gohma, those stupid things weren't much of a threat; he could take them down in an easy slash. Moving back into the old smelling Kokiiri feel, he was almost home free when he saw Mido by the entrance, waiting for him. _Was there no end to this torture?_ Moving over by him, he tapped his shoulder, and grinned a little, wishing that the schedule had changed and someone else was there.

"You're in my way, Mido." He smiled a little bit and slid past him, when the boy moved, knowing an explanation was in order.

"Well if it isn't-- what the hell happened to you?" Mido really hadn't expected the boy back, either dead or punished by the tree--it was a surprise to see him, and in such a bad shape.

"You don't want to know, listen Mido, move." His courage had moved up a little, maybe thanks to that blue light and he felt the nerve to punch the boy.

"So what happened?" Even though Mido was mean, he was still curious.

"Well, the I had to defeat a curse for the Great Deku Tree."

"You liar! I don't believe that." Mido looked down at Link, and sighed a little, letting out a little chuckle at the boy, though it did seem possible.

"If you don't believe me, go look for you-- wait don't go!" He watched as Mido helplessly dashed down the path with one of the Deku Shields for protection. About three minutes later he heard a horrified scream and his name being called.

"Linky, run." She sparkled around him and awaited him to take off, Mido would be pissed and the last thing they needed was that.

"G-good idea." He knew that the boy would think he killed the Deku Tree, and with a sad sigh, he knew he'd have to leave like this. Thought of like a killer, it didn't seem to end; though nevertheless he nodded and prepared to take off. He took off in a dash from the entrance to the passage, and leapt past the stepping stones, moving throughout the entire region. Still listening, every now and then he heard Mido yelling out a curse and calling his name out.

"You stupid bastard! You killed him! I'll kill you!" It felt like the boy was a few miles back, no pounding of footsteps, but the voice felt right behind him.

Shivering from the words, he wound past his house and saw nothing, there was no activity of Saria near her own room. Gathering up some food and clothes, and stuffing them in a large packsack, he put his weapons in there and the sides pack in there, too. He headed out of the tree house when he saw Mido running up the ladder, with a mob behind him. It looked like all the boys in the village, many of the girls a few meters back, watching helplessly.

"There is the shit. Let's get him!" Cheering was sounded when Mido reached the top of the house, finally, his weapon poised on Link.

It wa-wasn't my fault! A man poisoned him!" As bad as it sounded--no man had ever been inside the forest--it was the truth, not that it mattered.

No man has ever been in the forest, you liar. I am going to do what I have always wanted to do." And out came a small knife, manufactured for cutting wood for the Kokiiri. Taking one look at it, Link jumped from the house and landed onto Saria's house. Only problem was, the house was about twenty feet away. His power really had grown! Squealing, he nodded a little, taking no time to celebrate, this was to time to run away.

"Navi, let's go. My power did increase when I stepped into the blue fire." He seriously couldn't believe it, and haltered in his steps, he was standing on her house and staring around, nothing here.

"It seems so, let's test your speed. Go!" Mido could climb and be over there in a few seconds, so this was the time to get away.

Jumping from the top of the house, Saria wasn't there, he took off running for the exit for the forest. The mob was made up of just about every male in the forest, so no one was guarding the entrance when he dashed past it and into the unknown. It was shaped like a giant tree-trunk and the entire mob stopped right infront of it. Mido was the one that Link heard as he stepped through the part that led to a little ladder in the Lost Woods. He knew they wouldn't follow, but the words still stung inside of his ears as he zoomed by.

"And never come back, you fucking traitor!"

They weren't outside yet because there was a small connecting bridge that led to another tree-shaped exit, and that was where the outside was. The Lost Woods was a place where the other Kokiiri didn't dare travel; they stayed in the other part. The forest was made up of three places: the Kokiiri Forest, the Lost Woods, and the regular woods. The first two were in the enchanted part, ruled by the Deku tree; the other was just for travelers and wild animals. He didn't know if they would follow in the bridge, he hoped not as he sprung by, a familiar voice did come out.

"So, you are finally leaving?" It was Saria; of course, he wouldn't have stopped for anyone else, not even the Deku Tree.

"I-I, yes, I am leaving." Turning around, gingerly, he searched the sadness in her face and frowned, himself. She looked so pretty, yet was sad, he was glad to have seen her now, because he didn't know if he would ever have come back here. Navi, meanwhile, was stilling a little winded, so she went under his hat when he jumped off of Saria's house. "Hee, I guess you, um, heard the people?"

"What did you do, Link?" Her voice seemed stern, but a bit of gentleness was in it, as if he could tell her anything and she'd forgive him.

"I, went inside the Deku Tree, and fought something called Gohma." He knew the name; it was upon the tip of his tongue and shrugged his shoulders a little bit.

"Spider, that is the Kokiiri term for it." The old language was not what they spoke; the common language was one you spoke that even outsiders knew. He knew not why since the Kokiiri couldn't leave--except him now, but it seemed useful since he was going to a new landscape.

"Oh, hee, I knew that." He giggled a little, and those cheeks flushed, nodding a bit as she spoke out in her warm voice.

"You should know that, I taught you better." Of course she had taught him; he just was a little bit off when a giant spider was chasing you all over.

"Hee-hee, sorry." Oh, he was so nervous. True, Gohma was Kokiirish, and Saria was his teacher; she had been with him ever since he was a child. Like a mother and a sister, she was the only one that was for him and probably would ever be with him.

"But that isn't the reason Mido called you a traitor, now is it?" She saw right through him; he couldn't lie to her, somehow she had heard it all the way from in here--or maybe the last part.

"Um, no. After I got out, the Great Deku Tree. He--died." The sadness and anger he saw in her face, made him think she would turn on him, but no.

"Oh, I see. A Mido thinks you did it?" He looked upon her and nodded at her question, of course he knew that, but what she said next was surprising. "You really think that?"

"T-think what!" He felt like he had been violated, he felt something from her and shook his head, at whatever she wanted to say.

"That I would turn on you." Turn on you was something he had just thought of, the weird spirits had granted Saria some mysterious powers. It was like she was more powerful than the Deku Tree was, and sometimes he thought she really was.

He was speechless, but he shook his head, and all of a sudden he knew in his mind that he didn't believe a word of what he thought. "Of course not, I know you all too well."

"I know you too. Oh, I knew this day would come. You just aren't like the other Kokiiri I know it because you are so different. I raised you from a small Kokiiri, but I know you are different. I've always, well, kind of known you would leave. I don't want you too, but I can see the world of Hyrule has big plans for you. Oh, what happened to you?" She reached forward and placed a palm upon the scar on his ripped chest, running her fingers across the painless scar.

"Gohma got at me, it'll leave a scar." He seemed sort of proud of his battle-scar, it sort of initiated him as a grown Kokiiri, and he had fought something that normal Kokiiri could--and won.

"Oh, does it hurt?" She seemed worried, like she usually was and the boy shook his head, smiling with an explanation.

"No, actually, it doesn't. I mean, it did, but when we beat Gohma we stepped into some blue light and I got stronger, faster, and healthy. I jumped from my house to yours!"

"You did! Wow, that's incredible. Now, back to it. I want to give you something." Yea, she was impressed, but felt this weight that if he didn't get to wherever he was going, something bad might happen.

"What?" A gift was what he was going to give--Saria rarely gave them, and when she did they were usually only for him.

"You know, you've been in the Lost Woods and seen me playing it." Also this morning, but she neglected to mention that, she was simply blowing notes, and not doing very well.

"Your flute?" Or it had another name, he just couldn't think of it now.

Her brow furrowed, and she bopped him upon the head, speaking sweetly. "It isn't a flute, you big dummy. It is called an Ocarina. I have an extra, and want you to have it." She giggled a little; of course he had never played, but that exactly was the plan of hers.

"Oh, but I can't p-" He was about to say play, but she interrupted him, her arms held forward as he showed it off for him.

"I know that, that's why you need to come back!" She smiled and took the smaller boy in a hug, tightening it as their bodies pushed closer together. "You come back and I'll teach you. Don't worry, if you sneak in at night, they won't see and just come to the Lost Woods."

"O-Okies, I don't know how far this Princess of Destiny is, but I will come back." He turned around, ready to go, but Saria tapped him on the shoulder, and it seemed the time to visit wasn't over.

"Link?" Her voice seemed soft and she nodded a little more, the sadness was beginning to show itself off. As hard as it was to admit it, she couldn't deny the fact that she'd miss him, Saria was somewhat of a loner as he was--even though she was popular, there were few she considered her friends.

"Yea?" He smiled, and knew what the answer was gonna be, he knew it and just nodded somewhat, there was a promise for him.

"Don't forget me." She handed him the Farie Ocarina, which he placed, not in the bag, but at his side. The ocarina was brown, with a green leaf on the stem. It was bowl shaped with a stem and holes all around it. On the other side were the words 'never forget.' and there it went into his pocket.

"Never in my life." He whispered out, and was about to speak out when another surprise came, this a very first.

Turning back around, he was this time spun around, and pulled into something that was quite unexpected. A mouth was pressed against his along with gentle kissing sound. Blue hues widened as he found the shape of Saria hovering above him, stroking those blonde tresses through his fingers. He was frozen in abyss. The feelings were so weird, and so lovely. She was a wonderful kisser; he could feel as she continued to run her hands through his body.

First his hair, then his back, is rubbing in all kinds of crazy patterns. The kiss, though, that was extraordinary. Her, well, her tongue was inside the boy's mouth. No idea why, he had only kissed her cheek occasionally, and that was embarrassing, sometimes. Just staring at her, his eyes shut. The boy just sat there paralyzed, for a few moments, before she let him go and smiled. Eyes finally opened up, but he couldn't speak. His cheeks were as red as apples, his eyes wide and unable to move.

"You will never forget me, now."

Taking two, now three steps away, he turned around and ran through the bridge, away from her. He had no idea what had just happened, but whatever it was, he liked it. He liked when she kissed him, because she was in control and was showing him feelings that had never before shown. As he fell forward from the forest, his thoughts relented towards her, he knew somehow he'd be back. No matter how long it took, no matter how long much stuff happened, he'd be back. The funny reason was he didn't know why, but at that time, with the kiss fresh on his lips, he didn't seem to care.

"Navi!" Moving out of the tree hold, he held his hand over his face, and gasped. It was so bright!

Automatically, she came out, and hovered over his face, as if to protect him from the bright light. Of course she knew it wouldn't hurt, she just pitied the poor little boy, he acted so cute. She couldn't help but giggle at his face, not meaning to is mean just admiring his naivete so much. The boy thought he was on fire or something, and of course he had never been out of the forest. Shaking her head, she spoke out softly and looked over towards where she was, speaking out lovingly.

"Linky, it is just the sun." Yea, it was the sun, although it felt as if Din herself had decided to appear before the two of them.

"When did it get that bright!" He still didn't understand why it was bright, why the forest had covered up and shielded the sun from the Kokiiri.

"Link, no forest. No forest covering to hide the light. Look ahead of you." She just smiled when he stared ahead and saw the lush fields were in the way, no trees seemed to be anywhere.

"Oh, my Goddess." Of course he was surprised, he had sort of expected trees to be everywhere, and these were just plain fields.

"There were fields and fields of green, almost as far as the eye could see, there wasn't a landfill. No trees were in the way yet, not that it was minded, he just had to get used to the brightness of the sun. There were a few trees by the entrance, but besides that, there was nothing but green and the sun. With one little dirt path that led both ways, it was probably the only way to keep from getting lost. The place was extraordinary, that's for sure. Moving forward a few paces, he let out a scream when he heard a voice from above.

"Hoo-hoo-hoo! Well, look here, a Kokiiri! Out of the forest, little Kokiiri? Don't you know, you'll die!" It was there that the boy let out a shriek of terror, and he didn't know what the hell was going on.

"What is that!" Link screamed, pulling out his sword and trying to reach him, with no avail, growling in frustration.

"Whoa, Linky. That is an owl, he is friendly, I know him. What's your name, again?" Well, friendly wasn't a good word if annoying was a term that you associated with the little pest.

The owl smiled a friendly grin, and flew down a few feet more, only when Link put up his sword, and spoke to them in a gently manner. "He told me about you two, the Great Deku Tree, told me I would be seeing you two. Me, my name is Kaepora Gaebora, at your service."

"Kayo Gaypor?"

"No, Kaepora Gaebora, son. I am asked to be your guide sometimes on this journey, not as close as Navi, though." He chuckled, that made Navi a little uncomfortable, but continued on. "There are many dangers in this field and you'd better be careful. There are the Peahats, in the day. They look like flowers, so avoid them; they are deadly and poisonous. At night, avoid confrontation at all cost, they're are-"

"Stalchildren, I already know this, Mr. Gaebora." The less the mongrel talked, the better, that was the simple truth and Navi seemed to live by it.

"Well, I will be off, then, now be careful." And just like that, he took off, flying over the mountainside and heading into the sun. After a few moments he was gone out of sight, and Link stifled a giggle.

"And what is so funny?" She wasn't mad; she was just smiling a little, though still curious of his laughter that had come out.

"You didn't like him very much, because he thought he knew more than you, hee!" Of course he might, he knew that, but that didn't matter, the owl was nothing compared to Navi.

"Well, we don't need some stupid owl to tell us anything. You have me for that." She was there to inform him about the world, they didn't need some stupid little owl to tell them what to do. Plus the fact was that the tree was dead and they were free, no one was there to command them what to do.

"Hee, Navi, you are so mean!" Of course he didn't like the flying bird anyway either, he hadn't seen many birds in his life, never an owl.

"When the time comes to it, yes, I am. Now, let's go. I want to reach Lon-Lon Ranch by nightfall."

"What's that?" He didn't really have much Geography of Hyrule field, and even if he did, Lon-Lon Ranch is fairly new.

"A ranch where they have cows and horses." A wonderful place to rest, the two could get their strength back and be on the road by morning.

"Wow, I want to see that, I've never seen a real one." Horses used to travel through the forests, which had been so long ago that Saria said she was barely his age. So long ago, they had seemed to disappear from the world, but were making a good comeback as of this century.

"Oh, they are nice, you will like the- what are you staring at?" Navi asked, a little surprised as how his eyes widened and a pointed finger given towards her.

"You've been out of the forest before, haven't you!" He nodded a little, since he hadn't a fairie; he had no idea if the winged beauties left the forest.

"Well, occasionally, but on business."

"Yeah, whatever." He pushed the ocarina in his pack, and began to walk along the fields. Wow, the place was hot, he was used to subtropical climate, and this was pretty temperate. Wiping the sweat from his brow, a few hours later, he looked up and saw something of a mountainside. They had been walking for about nine hours, with a lunch break and a break to drink some water. Night had turned to morning, well, it was morning when they left, and morning was now three o'clock. He pointed at the mountainside, and spoke.

"What's that?"

"End of Lon-Lon Ranch, we go around it and the mountainside is on the top and then we reach it." She nodded a little bit, finishing her explanation.

Well, that was a little said because it turned out to be the next day before they got to Lon-Lon Ranch. See they did loop around, but Link got them lost, trying to find a shortcut, wanted to be a leader. Navi had no idea why she decided to follow the boy, who had never been out of the forest before, though she did. They ended up spending the night under a crevice in the shield so the Stalchildren couldn't get them. It was now about seven o'clock in the morning, and the ranch was only a few miles away.

"Are we there, yet?"

"We'd be there, if it wasn't for you, Link."

"Hee, I'm sorry, Navi! I just, I wanted to explore."

"Hrm, it's fine. Let's go on ahead."

The next three miles were a breeze, because the boy to be gaining some muscle, not much now, but he had a little on his body from the exercise of the past two days. It looked like he was adapting well to the temperatures; the new change of the world hadn't had its affect upon him. It was a good thing, the farie had been scared that maybe the tree was wrong and he might die--it wasn't the case. Well, he continued up the path, until seven miles since that morning, they fell at the entrance of the building. The place was not as big as the forest, but one of the biggest buildings he had ever seen.

"Wow, I am thirsty, any water left?"

"Nope, but they have milk here."

"Milk?"

"Comes out of a cow, it is usually for calves, but Hyrulians drink it sometimes. It is very good to taste, a sweet taste." She had tasted it before and she could honestly say it was good, if he'd like it was another thing.

"Alright!" Taking off for the entrance, he climbed the hill up to the top, and went inside the already open gates. When the smell hit him, he fell over and gagged, because he was right next to the horses' stalls. Looking up, Navi was back a few yards, a clucking noise startled him. It was coming from the other side of the building, so he took off and what he saw were these white things cluttered together. They all had feathers, beaks, and red things on them. Cuccos? That was the name! Jumping forward, he tackled one, and it began to make a bawking sound, before running off. Well, a chase, Eh? And he ran after it.

"L-Link! Hey, wait up!" She flew after him, and stopped as she watched him inspect the Cuccos. He had never seen one, what would his reaction…be? He tackled the thing! Oh my Goddess! Now he was chasing it, but it looked so cute. No, those people would be out here any second, not a sound. The clucking was knocked away when he heard a sound. Turning away, he saw some sort of fence and traced it back to where the entrance was. There someone out there, she definitely wasn't a Kokiiri, but maybe a Hyrulian? Tracing out there, he saw these huge things hurling at him, dodging them, he rolled over away, until he ran into the girl. She nimbly stepped aside, and giggled.

"Well, what do we have here? Those are odd clothes!" The little girl spoke; she had deep auburn hair, and eyes darker than his. On her body was some sort of a sheet.

"Me? You are wearing a sheet!" He giggled and pointed at her clothes, skirts were in the forest, but never something like this. It sort of confused him, though he didn't seem to mind, just shrugging his shoulders somewhat. It was so strange how she was dressed, he would of guessed she was getting ready for a costume party. Dressed as some weird kind of spirit from beyond, he watched her contently with those eyes steadily. His attire did seem weird compared to hers, though he dismissed it as they were from different cultures.

"This is a dress, boy! You, you are wearing green. Ah! What's that!" She was pointing at his shoulder.

Turning, he saw Navi, and shrugged before turning towards her, speaking outward towards her. "My farie, where is yours?"

"Oh, you must be a forest boy, hee, we don't have faries around her. All right, Farie boy, what's your name? Mine is Malon." Her voice was sweet and soft and she smiled a little towards him, showing off that nice farm-like charm.

"Link will do." He didn't appreciate the little nickname, sure he was technically a "fairie-boy" but he was much more than that. Nodding silently, he watched her a little bit, his arms crossed upon his chest and sighed softly.

"Alright, Farie boy." Her smile strayed upon her lips, despite what Link spoke out and she just shrugged her shoulders silently.

"I said Link."

"Farie Boy."

"Link." His impatience was growing even more and he growled out a little more, shaking his head, she didn't understand.

"Farie boy." And that was when she giggled out a little, and spun around in a little circle, beginning to sing out his name.

Turning away, he growled and looked up at Navi sternly, sarcasm placed into his voice, somewhat of a first for her. "Aren't you glad we got lost?"

"Kinda, um." She had giggled a little, and shrugged a shoulder before facing her attention back to Malon. The farie flew over towards Malon, and looked up at her; glad her attention was placed upon her now. "Where is Talon?"

"Oh, Daddy? He went to Hyrule Castle to deliver milk, but isn't back. Oh, will you go get him, please? I'll give you two prizes if you agree." Yes, the prizes were sort of a way to provoke someone in case they decided to withdraw away. She was lonely, her father had been gone for so long, and she needed him back to tend to the farm. Well, that was a lie, he didn't tend, he was sort of lazy, but nevertheless, she did dearly miss him. This boy, as strange clothes that he wore, seemed to be the one that would journey for her. Plus, the prize did provoke him; it would give her the advantage that she needed.

"Hmm? Prizes?" It was Link that spoke up, the interest sparking inside of his mind and he nodded a little bit. "What kind?"

"A song and a egg." It wasn't much to go for, though it was something, monetary value had been coming in. Though she had no control over it and she certainly couldn't ask Ingo for help in that, no one had the key, save her dad.

"Alright, I am heading there anyway, give me the prizes. Oh, can I have some milk too?"

"Hee, sure, I was gonna give you some anyway." She reached into a slit in her dress, or a pocket, and pulled out a jar with the label saying 'Lon-Lon Milk' inside was some white liquidity stuff, it sure didn't look tasty, so he put it in his packsack.

"Alright, here is an egg. But don't eat it! I have been incubating it for some time, and it looks like it is ready to hatch." She smiled a little and shrugged her shoulders; she didn't want her feasting upon the Cucco bird. This thing would be essential in his journey, she wasn't sure how, but she knew he was one. A traveler, the ones you read about in the legends, perhaps an abandoned Kokiiri. That was interesting, she knew it and with a smile gazing upon her lips, she nodded and knew it would be good. Her intuition was that of a woman's, since she was female, and said this boy named Link would need the bird.

"A-alright." Placing both the jugs of milk, and cucco egg inside of his pack, he looked up and was ready for his second prize. "What about my second prize?"

"L-Link! Don't be so greedy!" Navi looked up at the egg and slowly fastened the loop upon his brown, leather side pack, so it wouldn't fall out.

"Link, you cannot get the other prize until you go get my father, please? He is at Hyrule castle, anyway, and I would most appreciate it." Malon went up towards him and smiled a little, flashing those dimples upon her face, staring up at the taller boy. "Please, I promise I will teach you the song, it's a very nice song."

"…Alright, Malon. I guess I will, his name is Talon, right?" He hadn't really been paying attention, so he made sure to play a bit closer attention from now on, to get the facts straight.

"Yea, Talon LonLon."

"Alright, Linky, let's get going. We should be able to reach the place by noon in two days, I know it seems long, but on the way back. We can always ride with Talon."

"Alright, Navi. Goodbye, Miss Malon." Before a reply was given, the boy raced from the weird-smelling ranch and leapt back into the grassy fields of Hyrule Field. Mm, a deep breath of fresh air was given, and he walked along the boundaries of the LonLon ranch until they disappeared out of reach.

_---------------------_

The next ten miles in silence, the sun raced down the horizon close to sunset, when he arrived at a sign that read in the old language 'North: Kokiiri Forest. Northwest: LonLon Ranch. South: Hyrule Castle." Link, turned towards Navi, but she wasn't there! Oh, that's right, she had gone to sleep in his hat a few hours ago. Tucking the cap in, so she would fall, he walked another five miles, until the sun came down all the way. The first night, the children hadn't messed with the companions, but tonight was different.

Link had followed the boundaries, so he had wondered off the path, as the old said, not to wonder off the path. Hrm, the young boy sat down, just as it was six-thirty, and took out his supplies of food. What all he was were three canteens of water (half gone out of one of them), some fresh Kokiiri bread that was wrapped in some cloth, and some berries from the forest. Sitting upon the log, he shook the young farie. "Navi…"

"Hrm? What is it?" A flash, then a flutter as she sprinkled from his hat and surrounded his shoulders. "Where are we?"

"Well, about five miles ago, we ran into a sign that said which directions to go. South was this Hyrule castle, so I have been going south ever since. "

"Excellent time, Linky-chan!" We should be there by six o'clock tomorrow afternoon, if we head out now. So, what do you have?"

"Well, I didn't have a chance to recall much from my storage." He spoke while; he ran some of the smashed blueberry jam across some of the bread, before nibbling a piece down. Now, he pulled out a small bit and handed it to her. Yes, she was small, so her appetite was small. That was the wonderful thing about a guardian farie, she required hardly any water or food, and since he was young, he didn't eat all that much either. "I have about one fresh loaf of bread, and three others that are a few days old. Some fresh, jammed jelly, and the three canteens.

"Link…. Why aren't we on the path?"

"Oh, we aren't? I was following a path, it was white and --" He was about to explain more when she interrupted him with a small shriek of panic at him.

"That's the boundary path, Link!"

"Boundary? What are--talking about?" He had stopped speaking, because he heard a cackle of noise. Pulling the last piece off the fresh loaf into his mouth, he gathered himself up and stood infront of the log, with the sword unsheathed. What summoned from the background was small teetering sound. The sound was like a cackle, and what appeared over the hill was monstrosity.

"Linky-! Stalechildren, run!"

"Those children the owl--" A claw pushed him backward over the log, and he launched forward, slamming into the deep earth. He would have stayed there, but the cackle sent him upward, the sword came out of its buckle, then. That was when Navi turned a deep green and began to circle him, the skullchild, as it narrowed towards Link. It had no interest in the fairie, that thing wouldn't last a single ounce of energy for his food. But, this child, could be a very plentiful meal. Sure, it wasn't as large as those other animals, but it was a good size.

_I'll take care of it! _His thoughts wandered as heleapt forward, following the light from Navi, he sliced the blade of the monster's neck. The head was automatically decapitated off the beast, but the funny thing was, it still moved.

"It's still alive!" His astonishment was met to a halt and he just watched silently, a little bit of panic in him. This monster had lived, even after having its brain severed, there didn't seem much to do except gap in fear.

"Slash through it's torso, it won't be able to regenerate!"

Regeneration was something he wouldn't let happen. Pulling out the Deku shield, he flung it forward and watched as it took off the thing's hands and upper torso. That was it, he leapt forward slamming the tips of his boots into the lower region of the abdomen. A final screech sounded, as the thing erupted into small blue flames. Grasping the shield, he took off running.

_--------------------_

He ran for as long he could, whenever he got tired, he limped until a second wind started up. Throughout the night, he heard the cackles and sometimes saw them rise from the dead ground. The monsters were hideous; they reminded him of the nightmares he had had a few days ago, but these things. They were pure evil. Looking like those ancient dinosaurs, from the past, their heads resembled that. Smaller bodies, all bones, and a loin clothe across their lower abdomen. He didn't care if this chest ached, no; he didn't care at all.

Navi had caught with him and was safely tucked into his hat, which was all he needed, because sleep was no coming that night. From six-forty five, that afternoon, until six-thirty that morning, he ran. Finally, he stopped when he noticed there were no more cackles, no more room for them. He heard the birds chirping and the other daily birds flying through the air. Insects were inside of the grass and bushes, and animals rushing around the green plains. Falling to his knees, he groped for the air, before collapsing into the ground.

_--------------------_

Navi feel asleep when the running pursued. She couldn't help it, the night before, they had been talking and then she scouted for skull-children. Throughout the night, she heard some cackles, the sounds of battle, but never any from Link. If he were to so much cry out, she would be awake and at his side. No, she didn't awaken until she felt the rush of him slamming into the ground. Fluttering outside, she knelt by him and shook her head gently. The boy was so defenseless out in the open, so she dragged the boy out until he was up against a tree. Well, she had to find a way to get them to Hyrule. Damnit, why didn't they borrow one of LonLon's horses! Cursing herself for her bitter judgement, she went forward on looking for something to carry him on.

Just her luck, there was a cart going out to LonLon, but it wasn't with Talon on it, the farie went up to the driver and asked if she could have a friend ride back to Hyrule. The ride cost quite a bit of rubies, thirty to be exact, but for the next three days, they rode the trail and arrived at Hyrule on the third day. They companions had been, all together, out here for almost a week. Link woke up during the time and the two chatted for a while, soon he was well on his way from the exhaustion of the attacks earlier.

_---------------------_

The cart signed off near the Hyrule Castle gates, just as the large bridge was coming down, it was exactly a minute past six o'clock when it took off again, without Navi and Link. Staring up towards the large structure, this place was huge. It was larger than the Deku Tree was! The drawbridge was at least a hundred feet long, and it rested upon an ashen-gray castle that was, at the most, three hundred feet tall. The place expanded all over, and they weren't even inside!

"Navi…where are we?"

"Hyrule Castle, I've never been this far before, this place is huge."

"Sure is…can we go?"

"Hee, yea, we can go." Perched upon his shoulder, she urged the boy on. This place was so foreign, it didn't smell at all like LonLon, nor did it smell like the Kokiiri Forest. The place smelt like one word: industrialized. She watched at Link ran across the giant drawbridge, and met up with one of the guards. He looked friendly enough, so the boy sheathed his sword. That, in turn, amused the man and he chuckled out loud.

"What're you little boy, a knight-in-training? Maybe a squire?"

"Knight…squire? Why are you so tall?" The man was only about five feet, six inches tall, but to short Link. It seemed like a giant Kokiiri.

"I'm not that tall, boy. Don't worry, you'll grow up someday."

"I'm a Kokiiri, I stay a child forever."

The boy ran away from the bellowing man, the man who yelled: "Kokiiri are legends child, stop dressing like those freaks!" Pushing past the entranceway, he entered one of the largest places people could ever be. He entered the Hyrule Market, the place among places. This place was engulfed with people, it was full of hundred, no…thousands of people. They were all crowding around arenas where good were on display. He heard laughter, bellowing deep voices, feminine voices, and every other type of voices. Hundreds of alleys poured which way and that, there seemed to be no end to this place.

"Navi…"

"I know, Link, this place. Which one is the castle?" She felt as naïve as the little boy, there seemed to be no end to the places around, which would be the castle, and how much bigger was it?

"Maybe we should ask them?" He pointed over where two chuckle lads were having a good laugh, each seemed to be in his early twenties and having a riot of a time.

"Alright, you ask them, I am going to scout around, now meet me here in the center at twelve o'clock. That's about six hours, you can play until then, all right? I need business to attend too." He needed a break, she knew that he had been through a lot and this could be the best medicine.

"Okies, Navi. I'll miss you." Reaching up, he wrapped his arms tightly around her and was received the hug once more. The boy let her go and walked off towards where the two men were.

_--------------------_

She wanted to go with him, she really did, but she knew it was impossible. She had to work to do, and the boy so was young! Didn't he deserve a little fun after literally a week of torture? His father dying, being betrayed, having to fight, and leaving his crush? Yes, he deserved it. So when he wandered away, she flowed over towards where one of the largest buildings was. The place, looking like a religious church, was an essential place to learn of what was to come. She scooped past the garden and streamed down in a crack of the door, moving inside. No one could see her, or paid attention to her. She was, after all, just a little farie, or a firefly, in some cases.

Moving inward, inside the room, she caught her breath when the choir started. The room was huge, illuminated with windows all around the pure white room down the center, with checkered white and black squares on the sides of the building. In the center was wide pedestal with the Triforce symbol upon it. Of course she had seen the symbol before, he hadn't, but she had. The symbol was a dark-grayish colour, and inside the symbol was some sort of ancient rune. Navi couldn't read it, but it was shaped like a coin, a medallion, perhaps? Further ahead was a stone carving, about three feet high, with three hollow tubes inside of it. Requesting forward, she read the old text message.

**"Ye who owns 3 Spiritual Stones **

**Stand with the Ocarina of Time **

**And Play the Song of Time."**

_Ocarina? Song of Time? What did this mean?_ They had of the spiritual stones, or that's what The Great Deku Tree had called it. An Ocarina is an instrument, isn't it? Why did he die with so many unanswered questions! Up ahead was a large wall, some sort of door. Above it was another Triforce symbol, this one black, with the gray interior of the building surrounding it. That door was at least fifty feet thick, and couldn't be opened. What was under there? What was behind that door? _So many unanswered questions, so little time. _Navi finally decided to sleep, so she crept up to the side of one of the many windows and dozed off. Time passed and night fell, the place was quiet, except that beautiful choir that seemed to never stop singing…even though no one was there to sing, the place was so wondrous.

_--------------------_

During the time of Navi's 'discovery' Link was busy enjoying the town. The place had many, and I say it literally, many shops to look around. Unfortunately, everything cost rubies, and a lot more expensive than in the Kokiiri. Some of this stuff cost two or three hundred rubies. The most in the Kokiiri was ninety-nine! Whew, he was broke anyway, so all he did was hang around the shops. Got to do a free game of Bombachu, now that was fun! The young lad ended up almost blowing up the entire room. How was he supposed to know those things went everywhere?

"I thought you said you'd done this before!" Screeched the teenage employee, staring down at the boy.

"I…I thought, I--" Then he had ran out of the room with her yelling after him. Yelling for the forest boy to get back before she burnt down his entire forest. Preposterous, of course, no one could get back in the forest.

_Then how did the man get inside the forest?_ A voice whispered too him, one that was most likely his own self-conscious, though he wasn't for certain.

"Shut up." He spoke to himself aloud, but he was alone and it was all right to speak to yourself when you're alone. The only problem is when you answer yourself back, but hadn't he done that before? Growling at himself, he hurried back into the middle of the market, then he saw her. It was Malon! She was standing there alone, sitting by her lonesome with no one to care for her. Taking a look at his watch, it was way past seven. The market was closed down and all he saw were stray animals running around…what were those things? Someone had told him they were called 'dogs' today, but he had been against a pole with a bottle of something strong in his hand. He walked up to Malon and stared over at her, before sitting by her side.

It took a few moments before she noticed him; she was as slow as people from the deeper part of the country were. "Farie-boy! You're here!"

"Yea, I just got here today." He shrugged and sat down upon a little bricked garden, where she sat a few seconds later.

"Well, that explains why you haven't been back with my daddy." It seemed that she had gotten tired of waiting and decided to venture out upon her own.

"Hee, sorry about that. I got hurt and--well, we rode on a milk-truck back to Hyrule. But the thing had to go around the whole country, so it took a while. I saw Kokiiri, and a few other villages I've never heard of. Saw somewhat of a giant lake and slept the rest of the way."

"Oh, what happened? Are you still hurt?"

"No, I ran all night, those Skullchildren were after me."

She gasped out loud, pressing her hands up towards her face, and stared at him in utter disbelief. "What? Those aren't just legends?"

"No, of course not. They are dinosaurs, or look like humanoid ones. They are skeletons and wear loincloths. Well, Miss Malon, I have to go look for Navi. You want me to look for your dad, we have to get into the castle…wherever it is." He had concluded that the castle was near here, of course it was, this was simply a smaller town below the castle. However, he still wasn't certain about where that place was, there were a lot of tall buildings around.

She let out a long stream of giggles, and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, before slapping him on the back roughly. "You really are from the forest, Farie boy! The castle is that long building back in there. It's have a little desert scenery, then there is a long gate that leads up there. If you want to get inside the castle, your gonna have to sneak in."

"Yea, I think I remember." Nodding roughly, he remembered what those two guys said, those funny guys from before.

_"Well, lookey, here, what is this!" Those two were annoying, it was a wonder that Navi hadn't gone to go see them, he had seen these two earlier._

_"Looks like a forest boy, those ones from the tales." The taller one chuckled out, though the two of them reminded him or the twins, or the Know-It-All Brothers. He assumed they were twins because their appearance was almost the same, as if they were the same people. Of course, he knew about identical twins and all, so the older men seemed to be of that descent. Also, because the two of them acted alike, and both shared the same stupid personality. Their sense of humor was also the same, which the jokes they laughed at were not really all that funny._

_"Ah-ha-ha-ha! Where is his farie?" The shorter one spoke this time, they were the same, though still one was taller than the other one._

_"She went off--" but the two cuts Link off with more barrels of laughter, finally he turned towards the large building and looked up at it. "What's that?" _

_"The castle, forest boy! Oh that reminds me, guess what this dork did!" Even though he hadn't even asked about it, it seemed the two of them were beginning to explain it._

_"…Don't tell him, Joe!" The shorter one, Joe, seemed to remain the center of attention as his brother blushed deeply, and spoke on._

_"Why not?" _

_"…Fine." _

_"This idiot tried to sneak in the castle, he got all the way past the guards, he even got into the castle grounds, but he got stuck in a water-gate. Imagine this, now they've tightened up security!" He had to admit it did seem a little stupid, though the information he thought might be valuable._

_"Is the princess of Destiny there?" Asked Link eagerly. _

_"Yea, you mean Zelda? Yea, that little girl's there. Cute little girl, say about your age. Hey, you aren't going to work the moves on her?" The two men, they were not boys, more of men began to chuckle and shape out the girl's body. It was strange how they did it, though Link just stared up at them confusingly, his eyes focusing strangely._

_"Wha? --" But another stream of laughter sent the boy back from the two. Stomping his feet, he hurried back off towards the alley where he played his game of Bombachu._

_---------------------_

"Alright, Miss Malon, I have to go find Navi. Night!" He would have liked to spend a little more time with her, but their appointment seemed to have been running late.

"Goodnight, and care of my egg, is it getting warmth?"

"Yup, in my satchel, night." Off he ran, searching the buildings for her. The taverns didn't have her, the inns either, but there was one place he hadn't looked. That was the large church located outside of the marketplace. Following his leads up the stairs, there were four stones with eyes upon them that bunched up against them. Saria said those were Gossip stones, some were in the Kokiiri Forest. Tapping one, all it did was tell him it was one o'clock in the morning. Stupid, since he just looked at a watch, but he nevertheless ran up the stairs and enters the large temple.

When he was inside the temple, he could see a light somehow illuminated it. No candle light, but a holy light? Well, that made no sense at all. This place was obviously empty, but the boy was so tired, he just couldn't take it anymore. He had tried the inns, and with no luck, he was out for the night without a room. Lying down on a weird pedestal, with three triangles pushed in different directions. It made some sort of triangular force. The Deku shield went down, and he wrapped it on his body, the floor was cold, but he managed to slip his arms inside the tunic and keep from freezing. A few minutes later, he was out for the count.

_--------------------_

The next morning, Navi awoke the boy and told him of her day, very boring, she didn't mention her 'fun' with the legends. Her running had been strictly business, so she decided that he really didn't need to know about this. It was her own thoughts; she wanted to get rid of the facts that she was clueless. As his partner, she needed to be better than that and find out when he asked a question. He didn't need to know these things. Link asked why she never met him and he told her that she had gone to sleep up in the windows, near the sun.

"Oh, I was right below you!" Link exclaimed out in a maddening tone, one of surprise that the two of them had for some coincidence slept near each other. It seemed wherever they went that the two of them were connected in some magical twining, as if by fate.

"Yea, I saw you sleeping this morning." Yes, she had not only seen him; she had taken the time to watch him sleep, as she always did.

"Navi, I found out where the castle is and a way to get in."

"Oh really?" This sparked her interest, he had done more than play around for the day, he had become more confident in his abilities.

"Yea, those men said that they tried to sneak in through a water-gate…what's that?" A water gate, all these were words was new to him, he had no idea what some did, and others were synonyms of old words. It was a strange world, but he was learning more and more from his experiences in this new world, it was a great thing.

"It distributes water, it keeps it clean." She knew about these things because she had taken old Hylian dictionaries and read through them. Her time alone had been good for her, before him, she was not one to have many friends.

"Oh, anyway, I found out there is a small hole he got stuck in, so I can climb through. Only problem is the little thing about security."

"Security?" Had those idiots gotten it updated, that would be a really bad thing, especially for the inexperience warrior. Navi looked to the side, she knew who he was talking about, those laughing-stocks, they even smelt like trouble.

"They said it increased, but I think I can slip by. Unless they are guarding the water-gate." He nodded.

"Alright, let's try it."

_--------------------_

After some breakfast in the room, the Temple of Time, Navi called it. They set out for their destination. Moving out away the town, but still inside the large castle, Navi and he hurried down until it was twelve o'clock. There they stopped for lunch, and ended up at the passageway, the gates, at about seven o'clock that night. Fortunately, the Skullchildren couldn't get inside the human barriers, so he was safe that night. Link slept soundly that night, with an ever-watchful Navi on guard.

The next morning, the two found the vines that reached the place; they climbed the two and looked around. It was the morning, so not that many guards were around the entire facility. The castle looked about five miles away, lush fields of flowers covered most of the places, but at the castle was a long gate that looked pretty un-scaled, through. Scaling away at the fields, on his hands and knees, he reached some sort of small mountain. The mountain was climbable, so when he climbed it, they stopped for lunch. The food was running out, but he was happy with their shares. One loaf was left, with some jam and a lot of water, he'd filled it up in Hyrule.

"What exactly did you go when I was gone, aside seeing those two idiots." Navi inquired as they were heading towards the castle gates. It was only two miles to the castle, but the walk was becoming more and more strenuous.

"I mentioned the Bombachu place, but before blowing the place up, I won three things there, well really four."

"Four?" What are they?" Stopping for a rest, he leaned against a tree, pulling out a large side pack, and slipped the small one off, pulling the materials out of the latter.

"Wow! You won that?" He had been playing games, though it seemed that this was a good prize, not some little toy.

"Actually, she gave it to me, to hold the surprises I won."

"Well, show me!" Link nodded as she finished talking and pulled out a small container and inside was a small mechanical mouse. The mice were about the size of his fist, and were blue and yellow all over.

"Are those toys?" Navi thought out loud, a little annoyance in her voice; she didn't want him to be busy with toys. They were on a mission for the Deku Tree, and the two of them needed to finish this little adventure. Even though the tree was dead, his will still needed to be fulfilled, even if they were at the end, it was still his will. They would stop fooling around and go ahead and venture towards the castle, stop fooling around. There was no time to be playing these little games, or getting stupid little toys to use for no reason.

"Nope. They are called Bombachus. These devices are explosive, you just set them down and they fly off, then explode. Gun power is stored in there, along with motion detectors, and a time. But, personally, I think they're worthless." Gunpowder was very dangerous; it was a newly invented tool that was used in the guns of the new world.

"And dangerous."

"Trash them."

"But--Navi…" He sounded a little saddened to throw out his newfound toys just because she found them unjust.

"Now." Navi looked at him sternly and pointed to a small ditch, about three feet away, watching him contently. She had to be that way with him, because not only were they both partners, but she was his teachers. As a teacher, she had to mentor and guide him.

"Yes, ma'am." Throwing the Bombachu bag into the ditch, he fetched out a second bag. This one was a large bag with the word 'explosions' printed on the side of the bag. "She said it is made of a D-" He struggled with the word, as if it was a new word, of course it was one of those new words, a weird language. "Dodongo. A Dodongo's stomach."

"I think we need this. I don't know why, but I have a small hunch." Navi fluttered in the smaller pack and out came a large glass shade. Inside the case was half of a heart, but it wasn't a real heart, of course not. "W-what's this?"

"An ugly woman gave them to me."

"Link!" She seemed to stifle a giggle; one shouldn't make fun of a person's appearance, though it was cute. His naivete was just one of the cutest thing he could seem to do about, and she accepted this willingly.

He whimpered and nodded sadly, shrugged his shoulder and reworded his own phrase out solemly. "I'm sorry, I mean, a disfigured woman gave it to me when I saved her dog."

Navi frowned, but at least it was better than 'ugly', it was still cute how she acted, and then she nodded. "Saved?"

"He was lost and I found him the night I was alone."

"Oh… Well is that it?"

This time he pawed through his pockets, and he took out one purple ruby, four red ones, and two blue rubies, stuffing them into his wallet. Sticking the wallet inside the satchel he used for rations, he continued to switch the supplies from the smaller side back, to the larger one. "I won these and the hearts at the treasure box contest…yea, I had two pieces, but when I held them bother in my hands, they just bided together."

"Wow, so two more pieces?"

"Yea, maybe at it increases my power when I find a whole heart, like those small heart containers in the Deku Tree." Link now had a dozen of those things. How? On the way to Hyrule Castle, they had stumbled upon a bush and after some searching he found those containers, Deku Seeds, and some nuts."

"You said four things." Yea, she had only shown him a few of them, but not all of them; she wanted to view them all.

"Yea, I also won a seed bag." Link pulled out new Deku seed bag, but he had been carrying them in a small bag earlier.

"Wow, how many seeds does it hold?" The original bag had held about thirty or so, she had never taken the time to count, nevertheless she was listening to him and his words.

"Forty seeds, and I won it at some shooting gallery. Shooting at some rubies." Link reached into his old seed bag and dumped the seeds from the old bag, into the new bag. Closing the bag shut, he pulled out his slingshot, the Deku nuts and sticks, and put them inside of his side pack. This new bag would be able to hold even more than before; it was a good thing that it was here. The old one was a very old bag and would rot off in a few weeks, she was just sure of it given rain and time. There he stood himself up and pulled the new pack around his waist, fastening it tightly.

"Ready, Navi?" He wanted to be sure that they were ready, what was next would be the way to the castle.

"…Yea. I guess you don't need me anymore." She spoke in a light whisper. Link frowned sadly, cupping her inside of his hands, and kissed her face. "Hey, I won some supplies, that's all. I still need you, of course I do. You're my friend and my protector."

"Don't say that…I'm not strong." His smile seemed faltered and he simply shrugged his shoulders a little bit, admitting the weakness.

"Yes you are, and braver than me." Leaning forward, he kissed her tiny veil and placed him on his shoulder, a smile grazing upon his lips. "And you aren't a nuisance."

"Thanks."

_--------------------_

"Navi, what do we ask this princess?" The two were making their way closer and closer towards the castle; it was of course in the eye-view.

"…Never thought of that."

"I think we show her this Kokiiri Emerald and maybe there are others?"

"You read the inscription!" She had read it and surprised that the boy had taken the time to go upon and read around the temple.

"What inscription? I was following on guess, what is this inscription?"

So, Navi told him about the inscription and about a little more of the Triforce. "What you slept on was a medallion inside of a Triforce. The Triforce are courage, power, and wisdom. Each power represents a triangle, and I think what's behind that door is something special, maybe the Triforce? I think it's a special power, and I think this princess can tell us everything. "

"You're right, she is a princess. She must have information, but will she share it?" Yea, royalty had secrets, secrets that someone like an intruder from the forest weren't supposed to know. All he could do was pray; hopefully they would get through and be able to achieve the tree's last request.

"We'll just have to try, it was his dying request." She whispered out sadly and shrugged her shoulders, if they were turned back, that was that.

"…Yea, let's go."

Pulling out the rest of the food inside of his backpack, he slid down the path and landed upon a small gray path. The path was smooth and soft, feeling like stone and some granite stored inside of the materials. Either painted or smoothed right, there were no specks of spots for him as he walked forward. There was some sort of water surrounding the path, on the left side and turning sideways, he saw the castle. It was beautiful! The castle was at least two hundred feet tall with hundreds of windows, a drawbridge, on the other side, and guards looking away from him.

"Link, get in the moat!"

"Moat?" His tone was confused, he blinking a little bit.

"The water, dive!"

"O-Oh!" He saw the guard turn around, but dove into the water just in time. He gasped as the currents pulled him forward, he was pulled around the whole while, and he was pulled until a bump slammed into his side. Groaning, he turned over and cried out softly.

"Linky!" Navi pulled at his shoulders and lifted him the currents; there he pulled him over and placed him on top of some boxes. On the boxes, she looked at him and, he was all right, he really wasn't in much pain at all. The thing just left a small bruise on his upper body, quite nasty from the look upon his chest. ."Link, are you alright?"

Coughing out some loose air, he nodded. "Yea, I'm alright. Let's get down to business." Hopping off of the box, he saw a cow onto of the boxes and gasped out a little bit from old remembrance. "Lon-Lon Ranch! That must mean…What's that?" Leaning over the large crate, Link stared at a heavy-set man in some overalls. He was bald, but had some hair on his sides and a big mustache/beard combination.

"Talon!" Navi cried out and shook her head a little, fluttering across his face back and forth. There was no way they could get to the drain with this fat man in the way; the boxes had to go in the way. This was the only way to stop the rush of the water; they would plug the water and keep them from falling. While she did this, Link reached into his pocket while Navi tried to awaken the sleeping man, there was a crack and something pushed out. It was Cucco that appeared, after such a while, the chicken had decided to come out of its shell.

"Navi, a Cucco!" He nodded; throwing the shell aside inside of the running water, seeing that it was quickly sucked up. That seemed to initiate that indeed they needed to keep the boxes up, plus otherwise he couldn't reach inside.

"Huh, oh, use it on him." Perfect, the chicken would crow inside of the man's ear and then that man would come back awake.

Pushing the Cucco into the old man's face, Link pulled a feather and the Cucco squawked a loud screech. That wasn't a very good idea, he knew it, but otherwise the chicken would have been very quiet. Before the thing could peck him, he threw readied himself to throw it down on the ground. Of course, the chicken was way ahead of him and jumped out of his hands and jumping the fence. The Cucco was gone within five seconds, when Link turned back, he saw Talon was awakening.

"What in tranation was that!" The man had a deep thick country accent, scratching that black beard as he yawned out loudly.

"Uh, your daughter's Cucco, sir."

Talon shook himself off and stood up, he was about five eleven, and towered over the boy. Looking down at the kid, he noticed the farie. _One of those forests kids…_ Dismissing the thought, he heard the name 'daughter'. "Daughter? You mean my Malon, why did you see her?"

"Um, she gave me the Cucco a week ago, and I just saw her on my way to the castle, she was quite upset…"

"U-upset! Oh, no. Malon's going to give to me!" Not even bothering to say goodbye, the old farmer took off towards the end of the gate, he circled the gate and swept past the guards, those poor guys, they tried to catch him, but he was long gone.

"Wow…Miss Malon must be tough." Navi spoke with a piece of sarcasm in her voice. The little farie floated up past the boxes and fluttered over towards the wall. Running out of the wall, was a small water gate, it was about his size and he wouldn't drown in it. "Linky! I found the gate those two idiots were talking about. Push those boxes so we can align them and you can hop across!"

Agreeing with her, he looked up at the boxes, they were about seven feet tall and when he knocked on one, he realized it was hollow. Guess the guards forgot to take them away and throw them out? It was the Lon-Lon Ranch boxes, Talon's. Pushing the first one deep into the water, it sank down and stopped the flow of water. Next, he pushed the other one on top of it, giving him a little standing room. Finally, the last one collapsed onto the second box, twenty minutes later, this was because that one was a bit heavier with some unloaded milk.

Standing on the top box, he peered over at the five-foot jump and what was past it. What was there was a small little covering with three triangles onto it. On that were flowing water, and the hole he would slip through. "Wow…thanks Navi."

"Yeah, it's great. This is just your size, so we can slip right through, but you might get a little wet."

"I don't mind, besides, this uniform needs washing, anyway." The boy had washed his clothes, when the milk-wagon stopped near the Zora River, he had washed it and dried it, but that was at least four days ago. Reckon, he didn't smell, he had bathed the day before yesterday in one of the inns, being kicked out, of course. The boy moved forward and leapt across the five-foot jump, he stomped across the other end and got down on his hands and knees. Pushing his head through the hole, his damp body was through the entire tunnel in less than three minutes, but it was pitch black with the leaking and flowing of water it sort of creep him out. Finally flashing through the terror and into the light, he pulled himself out and was standing up in a small ankle-deep pool.

"Navi, want to go check it out?"

"Alright, Linky." She flew forward, and about ten minutes she rushed back with a big frown upon her face. "There are about nine guards, they are assigned in five arenas. One is at the first arena and the other two are in-groups at the other four arenas. Fortunately, they are going to be easy to dodge, except the third one…there is a plank on top of a balcony you have to balance over. It's fairly easy for you, I would imagine."

"Man, those two dummies had the security increased, Eh?" He sighed, wishing they might've found another way in, but what passed has passed, and the worst was yet to come.

"I would imagine so, Linky. We have those two to thank and if we get caught? I think you might be thrown in jail or something." She trembled at the though, they had no jails in the Kokiiri Forest, though that was okay. The fairie would make sure that the police didn't hurt him, which would be what she would do--protect him with her life.

"J-Jail? What's that?" He had no idea what it was like, but the name just made him feel weird, as if he knew unconsciously.

"A place of confinement where people who do bad things go. Like a place where you punish bad people." She nodded.

"I'm not bad, Navi!" He whimpered just a little bit and flushed a little, knowing in his mind that he was a good boy. Of course he was a good one, Navi had said so, and so had Saria, there was no such way he was bad.

"…I know that, but normal people don't sneak in to see the princess, it's not allowed. Ready?"

"…Yea, let's go." He couldn't use his sword on these people, because they were not monsters, so he pulled out about four nuts, keeping two in each hand. This was for a paralyze-formula, so if he used them, the boy would knock the guards out so they couldn't call for help. As if turned out, he didn't need them. The first arena was truly the lone guard, it was a squared hedge and he sneaked past that in only a few minutes, the next one however was a twin fountains. Link had to crouch and slid past the guards on his hands and knees, so they didn't discover him in the silhouette of the fountain waters.

The plank task was right after this, he saw below a barrel of treasures, and the guard surrounding them. He did sneak behind the guard and the ten green rubies, stuffing them inside of his pack, and he climbed up a ladder, pacing across the fifteen-foot board. It was a very scary experience; feeling like an acrobat in the circus, except this time, the guards might shoot you down. That was a freaky feeling and with a bit of passion, he finished himself up and kept himself on. Hopping down on the ground, he moved on, with himself and began to trace himself even more forward.

Fourthly, was a big stone wall, and behind the wall were the two guards, moving ever-closely together around a large statue of a goddess upon a platform. He guessed it was one of the Goddesses, but couldn't be sure. Link made sure that the two were on the other side when he ran past it and into the last section of the garden. Past the barrier of the fourth section, was a larger rectangular hedge with another statue in the center. This one was narrower, but he couldn't tell what it was. Those two guards were a little harder to dodge; he had to climb through the bushes and slipped past the guards when they turned the corners. One turned and stared forward at his direction, but he was tucked safely inside one of the bushes. For the next thirty minutes they paced the garden where he was, and decided it was a mouse or something, then went on.

Past the fifth garden maze was a long tunneled corridor that led into a larger garden, the flowers were lush all over. A small moat ran across the entire structure from the outside area. In the center of the garden was a bushel of sunflowers, leaning down he sniffed the flowers and was immediately stuck with the sensation of beauty. Whose garden was this, the princess, was that the loyalty that ruled all of Hyrule? She seemed younger, younger than he had expected, of course beautiful princesses were supposed to be. Not that he thought her beautiful, he wasn't sure since all her hair was held up, a little bit he paced forward.


	4. Chapter III A Princess' Deed and an Old

-1Chapter III: The Princess's Deed and a Sea of Envy

Copyright: I do not own Zelda, Nintendo does. Story by Habuki productions.

Where was that man and the rest of his weird little women, was what she was wondering. The young girl kept peeping through the window into the kingdom, there was her father, and the royal chancellor, but that was it. Some of the older knights hung around the king, the ones he was close too, but he wasn't there! Did the dream mean anything, or was she just going crazy, had her father been correct at acting with her. Was she being delusional in her own accusations about this, the promotion didn't seem to be true. No! Her father didn't believe her, but she believed herself more than she ever had in the past few weeks. She wasn't being irrational; she was serious as she could be.

Nothing made the nightmare come, nothing at all, at least yet, the dream didn't even give a time or day. Impa believed her, of course Impa did, she was her guardian…her nanny, maybe she needed to because that was her job? Furrowing her brow, she positioned the headdress in the right way, so it covered up all of that luscious blonde hair, all that shone out were those blonde eyebrows. Well, she couldn't spot anything at all, but nevertheless, she kept her head positioned there. Sitting here would have been the best course of action, otherwise she might miss the appearance.

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"Link…look." Navi was sitting on his shoulder, whispering lightly into his ear, so that she wouldn't be able to hear. "I think that's the princess…"

Link stood back up from the patch of sunflowers and peered over at the girl. Yes, it was a girl, maybe the princess. She was dress very weirdly; from what he could see there was a long white dress that fell down to her feet, and violet robe-like felt upon the dress. Jewels were adorned upon her waist, it wasn't a normal belt, and he spotted the end of a necklace around her neck. Walking quickly, not seeming to eager, he stepped upward and spoke out, at the top of the stairs. "Princess?" He whispered out, as not to disturb her, though she seemed to be content in deep thought.

"H-Huh?" She spun around, her hands clasping to her chest and let out a tremendous gasp. W-who was that! There was this little boy dressed in…green? Perched upon his shoulder was a blue, velvet creature with…it had wings? The boy was dressed with a shield and a sword; a long cap fell down through his blonde hair. The boy had a simple innocence about him. Yes, he did seem a very innocent, quiet boy. Brushing the dirt from her robe, she looked up at him. "What are you doing here?"

It seemed he was correct, the girl, upon her robe had some of the most extensive little symbols ever. It showed that Triforce symbol, with a red eagle under it and another upside down triangle upon it. Maybe that was the Hyrule crest, he really hadn't seen any of the guards' uniforms, so that could have been it. He was more interested in trying to get past them without getting himself thrown into prison. He figured so and began to speak, well almost, but Navi cut him off with her own voice coming out.. "Princess?"

"Y-yes? Who're you?"

"I am Navi, the farie. This is Link, he is from the Kokiiri forest, and we were asked to bring you something. Link, the emerald?" He knew what she was speaking of, it was just that the princess didn't have an idea.

"O-Oh, yea." Reaching swiftly inside of his pack, he pulled out the simple stone. The stone was shaped like a flower, the rims adorned in a beautiful gold. Inside the flower, or the leaves, were made of pure emerald. The stone was untouched, unscratched, and looked like it hadn't been fooled with in a number of years. Placing the small jewel into her open hands, the boy looked up at her and smiled. "This is the Kokiiri Emerald."

"T-the Spiritual Stone of the Forest!"

"Well, I --" Navi nodded her head and cut the child off.

"Yes, this is the Spiritual Stone of the Forest."

"And you are his farie? So, he is a Kokiiri?"

"Yes, he is a Kokiiri."

Zelda closed her palms around the jewel and walked towards a small chair in the garden, it was still up on the platform, and there she rested her feet. Looking past Link, and at Navi, she nodded a little. Gasping, she jumped up and walked right infront of them, bowing her head. "Forgive me, I forgot to introduce myself. I am Princess Zelda, or known as the Princess of Destiny."

"That's what the Great Deku Tree-sama said…" Link watched her pace around the room, and he sat upon the left balcony-end of the staircase, looking up at her. "He said that we were to look for the Princess of Destiny."

"Who is this?"

Navi fluttered over at the Princess, and hovered a few feet from her face, speaking out once more. "The Great Deku Tree is the guardian of the Kokiiri forest, he is--or was the guardian. Now the forest is by itself."

"H-he passed on?"

"Unfortunately so. A man in dark armour, from the desert put a curse on him. He released Gohma the spider and the spider poisoned the Deku Tree. Link went inside and vanquished the spider, with my help, but unfortunately we were too late and he soon passed on."

"A man from the desert! What was his name!"

"We don't know, either the Deku Tree didn't know, or he chose not to tell us." This was Link who spoke up; he had reclaimed the stairs and now looked up through the window. "What were you staring at?"

"O-Oh, I was looking for a man. I think he maybe the one who you are looking for." She took one look and her cerulean hues brightened in fear just a little bit--a little bit too much.. "He's here! Link! Navi! You look in the window and see if he gives you a feeling."

_Feeling?_ Link didn't know what the princess meant, but when he looked in through the window, he did. A slight chill overcame his and Navi's body. There was a man, dressed dark armour. He was an over-bearing six feet with seven inches on the end. Not only black was on him. Heavy armour adorned his short, red hair and that darkened skin. A brown breastplate with those iron shoulders padded on top. At his hands were some gloves with diamonds on the back of his hands.

Spiked ends were at his kneecaps and his pants were heavy and brown, almost like a weight-training event. Just staring at this…this…tyrant was the only word. Staring at this tyrant made the boy get sick to his stomach, and then it happened. Those piercing black eyes turned towards Link. The man was kneeling next to a man in a throne, obviously the king, but when the man stared deep into Link's eyes. He jumped back and fell against the floor, Navi right beside him.

"What happened!"

"He saw us, well me mostly."

"Don't worry. I had a dream, in the dream there was this land, Hyrule and a dark clouds were swirled around the whole land. Then a beam of light appeared and the light took the form of a young boy with a blue circle with wings at his side. The light was coming out of the forest and held a green stone. I think you represent the light, and he represents the dark. My father doesn't believe me…. But do you?"

"Yes, Zelda I do. I have had bad dreams, for the past few weeks, every few nights. And I have dreamt of this man, never his face…but his clothes look so familiar. Navi?" He was sure that this man he had just seen was from those dreams, the man's face seemed so devious.

Navi had beckoned herself back on his shoulder, it was a very seemingly natural event she had pressure herself into.. "Huh? Yea…I-I…the man frightens me, Link. I think we should take actions. Zelda, I do believe you. I read something like that in a temple about this; it mentioned Spiritual Stones and the Ocarina of Time. What is that?"

"You've been to the Temple of Time?" Of course they had, they had been to the Temple of Time, it wasn't like it was hidden from the rest of the world.

"Yes, if that's what you call it." She knew the name, sort of, she thought she had read it, but the text seemed to not be recalled in her memory.

"Well, let me tell you my story first and I will get to the part of the Ocarina. So, will you two listen to my story? The story of the Goddess'." She looked like she liked to tell stories, for she began to smile and bent down, as if to tell one.

"We already heard it from the Great Deku Tree." Link replied and sat himself upon the hard floor; he crossed his legs Indian-style, and looked upon her.

"This is the royal family's version. More specific, it deals with something more detailed. Would you listen." A different version from the last, there was something much more significant than the last one.

"Alright." Navi nodded her head and decided to give it a go, looking over towards Link as he nodded his head silently.

"I won't go over the part of the creation, since you've heard it, but when the Goddess' finished they left there work and formed three triangles. The triangles represented each of them and it was as followed: Din, the Goddess of Power, Naryu, the Goddess of Wisdom, and Farore, the Goddess of Courage. They each formed a piece of the Triforce. These three things and they were Power, Wisdom, and Courage. Now anyone could get to the Triforce, so they created a Sacred Realm. This Realm held the Triforce and that are where it was secure, not just anyone could get it. To access the Triforce you needed three things. One, the three Spiritual Stones of Forest, Fire, and Water were needed for the special ceremony. Next, the being needs the Ocarina of Time. The Ocarina of time is an Ocarina made of indestructible glass, it has been a family secret for generations."

"This is what I am talking about." At this point, she pulled out of her pocket a small Ocarina. It was just the size of Link's except it was made of glass and blue. On the tip of it, instead of a leaf, was a small Triforce symbol. Placing it back into her pocket, she continued.

"The third thing you need is the Song of Time. It's a special song meant to open that large door, because in that door is the Sacred Realm. A man with a righteous heart can lead Hyrule to a golden age, but a man with an evil heart can rule and destroy the world. Ganondorf, that's his name, he hails from the Gerudo Desert. They are a race of women, who have a male child every one hundred years, but he couldn't settle for King of the Gerudo, and he has pledged loyalty to my father, but I don't believe him a bit. He wants the Triforce, but he can't get the Spiritual Stones."

"Why not?" Navi stared up at her as Link asked the obvious question.

"Well, no one trust the man, he is an evil being and he threatened your Deku-sama. He obviously planted the curse when the Deku wouldn't give him the Spiritual Stone. I have a feeling he is going to try to hunt down the others, that's where you come in. I want you to find the stones. I wish I could travel with you, but I'm a princess and need to keep the Ocarina of Time safe from Ganondorf's hands. Would you go and hunt down the Spiritual Stone of Fire and Water?"

"Of course we will, Princess Zelda, me and Link will hunt them down, but where are they?"

At this moment a tall woman enters the garden, no one notices her presence, except Zelda and she keep quiet about it. "That's the other part of my dream, to get into those places you have to be known to the Royal Family. The Gorons' hold the Spiritual Stone of Fire, but I don't know about the Water. The Gerudos hold none, and the Kokiiri have the Forest. I'm sorry about the Water, I just don't know. The other element is to go and learn a song from the Royal Family, you do have an instrument, right?"

"Sure." Link spoke, pulling out the wooden Fairie Ocarina.

"Wow, the same instrument. Well, turn around and go see my guardian, she will teach you the song." She motioned her hands outwards, revealing what was behind the both of them, for quite a few minutes actually.

"… I don't see any…" Link stopped dead in his tracks and stared at the woman, wow and what a woman she was. The woman was over six feet tall, dark brown skin, with short, white hair upon her head. Not prenatal white hair, but natural, not the kind that got you frightened, as if her genetic code allowed it. She looked like a warrior too, she had the build and the muscle of one, but a gentle smile caressed her beautiful features. Letting forth a small laugh, she motioned him forward, bending down on her knees. That was how she wanted things to be, the boy was cute, not especially a hero of the dreams.

She older woman grinned a bit and kept those arms crossed about her chest, speaking out sweetly. "Come here, little one, I won't bite."

"Link, go." An urged Zelda, spoke out and nodded, wanting him to just go ahead and get on with it. "She looks tough, but she is just a softie."

The woman frowned and kept her arms open for the boy to come near. Reluctantly, he went forward, Navi perched at his side, ready to take this woman on. The woman just smiled broader staring at the two, and when they came near, she spoke to Navi. "I can see you are quite protective of him, aren't you?"

"That's right, and who're you?"

"I am Impa, Zelda's protector. My role in the dream it to teach this young lad a melody to show you are with the Royal Family." She stood up when he was a foot from her, and patted his hair, ruffling it. "You are a cute young lad, much too soft to be a warrior and unskilled. All right, before the melody I am going to train you a little. Come at me…"

"C-come at you?" Link looked at her, a little surprised and there he motioned out with his words, speaking out clearly. "Your much stronger…you'll hurt me, a lot more than I ever have."

"You took on a Gohma spider and I am a little tough?" She smiled and shrugged her shoulder uselessly, as if she was all at ease--a very bad defense.

"I used my sword, Impa…" Nodding, he wasn't really going to cut her to ribbons with his own sword, that was not it. Being responsible for killing the Princess of Destiny's maid was not a crime that he needed.

"No swords, just come at me." Speaking as calm as possible, she reached down and unsnapped all of her own equipment.

"...Navi?"

Navi nodded her head and smiled. "It's alright, I am by your side and if she harms you, I'll take care of her." Another burst of laughter, but not a mocking tone, just a surprised tone, yea that was what she was.

"You really care for this boy." Navi flushed under the veil, and shrugged her shoulders a bit. It seemed like the veil shrugged.

Impa nodded her head solely and backed away from the boy as he slipped his sword and shield aside. "And the belt, I see what you have in there, you cute boy. Deku Nuts and other surprises."

"…Sorry." Link threw his side-pack aside, along with his satchel and readied himself. Impa nodded towards him, a signal that she was ready anytime she was. Navi went towards the woman and surrounded her head not blinding her, but just staying up in the air and turning a bright yellow. Yes, Link followed the light, and then he turned and jumped at Impa. A smile formed her lips, as an afterimage was what he fell into…collapsing into the grass.

"Impa! Don't do that, you are just teasing!" Zelda was back in the small chair, watching from the stone stairs, her little behind sat down firmly.

Link jumped up and stared at Impa; she was standing still, the smirk still upon her face. Yes, the boy had been trained a little in fighting and this training for the last week was the best he had been at. The boy ran straight at her, but he jumped to the side, slamming into a wall. He had moved with all his speed, that's how he was going to do it, his own willpower would instruct him here and so he went on with it. No, that's what he would have done, but he propelled himself off the wall and was spiraling towards her side.

It never happened, as he spiraled, she jumped right to the side and grabbed his small body. Turning him towards the side, she slid him down into the grass as he slumped inside the bushel of flowers. The attack didn't hurt, she was going easy on him, and of course she could break his little neck easily. She wasn't going to do that to him, he was such an adorable little boy. So sad that he was chosen for this wicked fate, a fate Zelda had no idea was going on.

Link spun himself up and stared up at her, he nodded his head just looked off to the side. Tears began to stream down his cheeks in embarrassment; his cheeks were crimson as he cried outlook to the world. Navi was still at Impa's side, but she didn't move, she just watched the two of them, as mad as she could be. As much as she wanted too, she wouldn't of been able to move and help, this seemed to be a pact of honor. The surprised Impa walked to the boy and knelt down beside him, about to wrap her arms around him.

"Link, it's alright, I didn't. --" Yes, she stopped when he pushed her down on her back and jumped onto of her chest. He put his arms at her arms, holding them down, and held down her legs with his own, locked around them.

"Ha! I got you!" He let out a squeal and smiled sweetly over towards her, not the least bit surprised in his conquest.

"So you do, lad, but monsters aren't so compassionate." She reached up and grabbed a part of his neck, pushing a finger to it; the boy fell to the ground and cried out in surprise. He couldn't move! Impa bent down and picked the lad him, taking him to a small bench in the back of the garden and sat him down. This was going to take time, and indeed a lot of patience, but back to the melody, that was another matter. He needed to be taught that, the training was more important, but she had an idea about the tune. This tune could be the most important thing that the boy learned--if he anything he needed that..

_--------------------_

"Link you learn this melody, write it down and learn it." Ten minutes has passed since the fight ended, and now the numbness was gone. He sat up from his position and looked back at Impa, at the victorious woman of herself. She had bested him, he wasn't afraid to admit that and just watched as whatever came next came about. The lad had been watching ever since he was cushioned down, but now she had a small flute upon her hands and pointed to a small chalkboard with notes upon it. The notes were written in a beautiful fashion, aligned so that the keys could be taught just right.

"Okies, I guess I shall learn it." At his side was the satchel, so he reached inside and found some stationary and a pencil. Looking up, he drew the station and wrote down the notes, quite easy, but the verses looked difficult as they got on.

"This melody is part of the royal family heritage, but I have sang it to Zelda as a child, so we all refer to it as 'Zelda's Lullaby.' This tune is quite simple to remember and you must practice, have you practiced on the Ocarina, how long have you had it?" From the way he handled it, holding it inside of his hands, he was still an amateur at the ocarina.

"I got it as a goodbye present about eight days ago, I haven't practices but a few times…sorry." He shrugged a shoulder, he blew a few notes a night, he understood some of the scales, but no songs as of yet.

"It's alright. Now you have it written down, let's go." Impa had said this and the way she spoke seemed to scare Navi, the 'go' part was initially weird.

"G-go? Where!"

"I am going to train you, but without your little farie." A good riddance with double training would be good, the two needed to learn to fight alone.

Navi was only a few yards from the scene, but she heard it and flew up to Impa's face. "Without me! I am his guardian, he needs me!"

"I am going to train you also, young farie. I need to train you two separate and then you may train in battle together. " Her way was law, she was stronger than the two of them, and the two desperately needed this.

"B-But." She tried to argue, though she knew it was worthless, being able to argue would the woman, that is.

"No buts, you know you two need training alone. There maybe a time you have to defend him in your sleep and vice versa, I want you two ready for this. You are eventually going to have to fight Ganondorf, and he has powers even though he doesn't have the Triforce. He can manipulate chi." Chi, it was a wonderful thing that the two of them would learn, she had to formulate it.

"C-chi!" No explanation was given because there was no need for it, since there wasn't enough time, it was a hard definition.

"Yes, now let's go. We are going deep into the castle, away from this all and then we will train." A darkened area would for one keep the attention away if Ganondorf decided to snoop around, or the king. Either way it would keep the two of them away from there--maybe an abandoned little dungeon.

"Alright." She decided that was it, her voice faltered a little, the training would probably be one of the best things for them.

Link just nodded his head, agreeing with Navi that the submission was given for the two of them. Being without her was scary, but it was better if he learned to protect her from the danger. Next time a blue light might not be there to save her, his power was too weak the last time and before that. Next time she might d…no, he couldn't say it, and there he shook his head a little bit, knowing getting strong was the answer. Impa went off towards the dark end of the garden where a tunnel was, and the partners left the small Zelda alone.

_--------------------_

Eleven days passed before the two were ready for the time to leave. In that time Link was trained in art of defense, the art of using his sword, the art of using his fist, and learning to control his spinning attack. It had none, but a little chi in it, which would change in later weeks to come, though. He was also formed in the art of back flips, front flips, dodging, and slash attacks. Item using was perfected, also, as in using the nuts properly and aiming with his slingshot. Jumping attacks were also prefixed, so when he came out a week and a half later, he showed better improvements. Navi, on the other hand, was trained in the act of using her chi as a bit of a defense mechanism, and also she was trained on targeting, as was Link when they were together. Her different barriers would change colours to indicate which was what.

Dark blue when they were looking for stuff, green when a friendly person was near, and yellow when she wanted to target and enemy. Navi was also trained to direct her chi towards some enemies and use them to blind or paralyze them. By the end of the eleven days, the boy and his farie had been on their journey for two weeks and five days, and the two were about one hundred and ten percent better. A final battle between them and Impa occurred, and the two conquered Impa, not by much, though.

_--------------------_

Two hours after the battle, and some bandaging and showers, the hero with his tunic back on. It had been sowed so that the tatters from the training and the roughing were all gone, the boy looked up at Impa and nodded. "Am I better?"

"Yes, Link, you have grown much. Not physically, but your strength and power are ten fold. The same for you as well, Navi, and when you two visit the Fire Spiritual Stone, you will conquer." In all honestly, she believed it, she believed in the both of them, even though she had not been using full power,

"Hee, so where is the stone?" The Stone of Spiritual Fire, he meant, that was the next one that the two of them were searching for.

They were now outside of Hyrule, just outside the large castle, not the one where Zelda resided, but the one he say more than two weeks ago. The one he had gaped upon for a few minutes, now Impa was at his side with her whistle. "Are you ready to try again? We practiced this rarely, but I want you to learn it."

"Yes, ma'am, I am." He pulled out the farie Ocarina and began to prepare the play. First Impa played the Royal Family song twice, and let Link perform it. His lessons had not been in complete vain, he was getting a little better at performing. By no means would be a professional, though soon he might be able to play an entire song. It took a few minutes, but he got it in five minutes flat. The second time he did it, he had no interruptions or any incarcerations. Looking up at Impa and Navi, he burst into giggles and hugged the little farie, and she hugged him back.

Impa smiled and knelt down beside the two, staring back at them. "You two…I can't believe how far you've come. Surely the mountain would have killed you, if you had gone without my training. I am glad I got know you, Link-kun, I am sure we will meet again." Leaning forward, he kissed his cheek and stood up with something in her hand, and there she threw down something with a flash sparking. Link sprung around and stared forward, but she was gone!

"Navi! Where is she?" His cheeks were still red from the kiss.

"I don't know, she said she was a Shiekah, so maybe she is like a those ninjas in those old stories. She has the power to disappear." Just like those of the old stories, she knew that they weren't the same, but at the same time, they were the same.

"W-wow. Okay, where do we go from here?" They had said to leave for the flame stone, though he wasn't sure if they would head there exactly.

"I want to go back and see Saria, besides, I have things to take care of." Navi's voice wasn't mean, she was just looking up towards the boy and smiled sweetly, nodding.

"The mob, Navi…remember?" Of course the two of them hadn't forgotten it, the group of Mido's boys had almost maimed the two of them.

"I remember, we'll have to sneak in at night and slip off the rope ladder, and then we can travel through the lost woods." The Lost Woods, that was the prefect distraction, no one ever traveled through that part of the forest. Even if they did, there were enough places to hide and Mido wasn't that smart as to post a guard so close to the forest, most everyone thought he was dead.

"N-Navi, have you ever been in those woods!" His voice was stern as he sighed, staring forward over towards the horizon, where the forest was.

"…No. Not in a long while." In her honestly, she had come close a few times, maybe even traveled long ago, but not recently.

Link slapped his forehead and they began to walk, they walked the path while Link explained just what went on in the Lost Woods. "I've been in there about three times, each time Saria leads me because, for some reason, she can get through to the Sacred Forest Meadow. Going in there alone you get lost and die, then you turn into a skull-kid, remember those legends. I think they are real."

"Link, you are silly! There are no skull-kids. Anyway, let's go to Lon-Lon for tonight, we can make it if we take the easy path. Last time you lead us around for a few days, that's why it took so long." Smiling sweetly, she stroked her hair with her small fingers and nodded as she took the lead.

_-------------------_

When they finally got inside the ranch, it was late past six and the sun had already dropped. The path had led them this way, the duo deciding for the night they would stay here instead of on the road. The chance of another attack by the evil skeletons was not something he wanted to go ahead with. At least they were on the path and saw no Skullchildren that evening, his prayers had been answers. When they entered the ranch Talon was already asleep, but they could see Malon putting the horses away. Navi fluttered up towards Malon and spoke. "Miss Malon."

Malon spun around and gasped, there was the farie-boy and his farie, the two of them seeming somehow different. "Farie-boy, Navi! Hello there, you have been gone so long, what happened?"

Link caught up with the two, they were just outside the stables, and he leaned against one of the stalls. "We were trained by the Great Shiekah, Impa, Zelda-sama's guardian. She trained us for eleven days so we can be on our next quest."

"Quest? Just what are you doing, farie-boy?" She had never been informed on the journey, her meeting had just been a little trip for her ranch.

For the next three hours, they talked about what they were doing on the trip; inside the large barred fences where only that brown mare was running around the arena. He told Malon of how he found the stone, which Zelda had given back, and talked up until the training part, with Navi speaking in occasionally. Then they were served supper by the grouchy old Ingo. He was a nice man, Malon said, a sweet working man, but he didn't like how her father was lazy. The man treated the horses right and was good to her, sort of like a mean uncle. She laughed it off and began to eat her eggs and drink the milk.

Link gulped down the LonLon milk and finished off the eggs, and then Navi began to talk, since she finished her meal before the two. The boy listened contently, he did respect when she spoke, that really wasn't the matter between the two of them. She spoke of her training, let Link talk of his, and then she said how they fought together and the whole trip here. He just sat back and allowed her story, listening and adding different parts when his voice was needed. Also mentioning they were on their way out to the Kokiiri Forest, not mentioning they would go visit a girl.

After the three hours were done Malon stared in surprise at the time, the sun had already sunk deep below. "Wow, farie-boy, you are a hero?"

"…Not really." He shrugged his shoulders softly and was looking at the ground, hands curled upon his lap.

"Yes you are, Link." Chimed Navi, bopping him on the head, giggling and truly believing what she had just said. "Stop being so modest…"

"…I don't feel like one." He smiled a little bit and looked up at his fairie, giggling just a little bit, she had that affect on him.

"You seem like one, Faire-boy. But, let's no argue it's nine o'clock and it's my bedtime. Do you want to sleep in the barn…we don't have any beds and my daddy won't allow me to have boys in the room." Spoke Malon, pulling the dishes from the grass and walked over to the mare, the dishes held in her pouch.

"Why?" Boys and girls slept together in the village, actually a lot of them had over the past few years. He used to sleep with Saria, until he turned about eight, then she said Mido wouldn't allow it, he was still confused as of why.

"I don't know, he's just weird, like that." She giggled a little bit and shrugged her own shoulders, watching the mare with her beautiful eyes.

Malon left and returned a few minutes later with two glasses of milk, each held into her own hands. She had hers and Link had his, letting Navi sip from his own, since she had forgotten to get her one. During this time, Navi kissed his cheek and went under the hat for some rest; she had had a hell of a day, as she said. An hour passed of talking before Link stared at the mare and blinked in surprise, he had almost forgotten. Finally Link looked over her, remembering what she had said only a few weeks ago, when they had met at Hyrule Castle. "Oh…hey! Where's my song!"

"Huh? Oh, yea. I remember, well might as well do it now." Her gracious smile stayed upon her lips and she nodded a little bit, stroking the mare softly.

"I've gotten better on my Ocarina, too." He pulled it out and played the song of the royal family, the kid had actually learned to do it. Malon clapped her hands together and smiled when he was done, he had preformed a great song.

"Wow, you have! All right, let me sing it for you. Gimme some stationary so I can write it down." Link pulled out the same paper with the Royal Family song on it and she wrote it right below it. That was when she stood up and began to sing the song, and what a song it was. Malon had a beautiful voice, so the notes went out clearly from her diaphragm and a few minutes into the song, the mare went up and starting licking Malon. She giggled and turned towards Link. "Play it, it's her song."

"Whose?"

"Epona's, silly."

"Whose Epona?"

"The mare, dummy. Now play."

Again, the first time he screwed it up and Epona sort stared at him in utter disbelief. Frustrated, he tried again and this time it actually worked, the mare ran up towards him and started to lick his face all over. Running his hands through her silver mane, the boy giggled and rested his head against her body. "How old is she?"

"Hee, she loves you, farie-boy! Oh, she's about seven months. "

"Alright, thanks for the song, well I am going to bed, okies?"

"Night, farie-boy!"

"Night, Miss Malon."

On the way to the barn, he ran into a busy Ingo, Ingo just acknowledged him when he climbed into the hay and fell asleep. He didn't mind the boy, it was actually nice to see a young lad on this ranch, maybe he would marry Malon and start working…he was a strong lad, that's for sure. Ingo wasn't greedy; he just hated the fact Talon did not care for the farm, yet he was rolling in the rubies from Hyrule marker. Milk was brand new in this town, because these were the only cows around these parts. The man closed the shop up, locking the barn, so Link could get out in the morning and went to his bedroom in the LonLon house. As he lay they're asleep, all he could thing about was Talon…he hated the man, but he would never betray him, they were best friends.

_--------------------_

The next morning, before he left the ranch, the boy explored the ranch house behind the fenced gating. Behind there, he searched onward. Link was alone this morning, because Navi had overslept, and that was quite unusual for her, since she was usually the one to wake him up. Maybe the training had mentally tired her, too. It was only four o'clock in the morning, so everyone was asleep when he slipped past the gates and stared up at the large tower, gasping silently.

He had noticed it in the distance and asked about it. Malon had answered that the cows were out their and some boxes of milk. That didn't satisfy his curiosity, and so here he was. Pushing the side door open, he poured in and was rebounded with the smell of the cows. A nice smell, the barn had been cleaned recently, or so it seemed. Peering inside, he saw seven boxes, each matching the ones he had saw at the castle, surrounding a particular space. Hrm, was there a present? Cows were also surrounding his the barn, but they were all stocked up to the sides.

Maybe it was a coincidence about the boxes, maybe it was fate, but something was behind those boxes. Pulling all the boxes back, they seemed lighter than the ones from before, but these were full of jars of milk. It seemed that Impa's training had helped him gain a little muscle. Hopping on top of one of the boxes and climbing over, he saw a small hole that had been hidden before. On his hands and knees, he went, crawling inside the hole a discovering another piece of art.

Yes! He couldn't believe his luck! Grasping the fourth of a heart container, Link climbed back out of the hole and went out of the barn. There he followed by his way out of the barn house and back to the stables. When inside the house, he picked the other heart container up and pressed the two together. Automatically, the heart containers disappeared and a new one appeared, but this one was made of three-fourth's heart. He smiled and headed back to his sleep position, where he fell asleep within minutes.

I'll tell Navi-chan in the morning.

_--------------------_

Later that morning, Link awoke and ate breakfast, while Talon pestered him about helping with some work for staying the night. Agreeing, he helped them out that morning and at about ten that morning they said goodbye to the Lon-Lon Ranch. The next destination was the Kokiiri forest, where they would meet Saria and maybe she would teach Link a new song? Maybe so, maybe so. For the next day and half they traveled, the two had restocked some real food at the castle. They had milk, a lot of it, and the water in canteens. Some weird bread from Hyrule, not bad, as a matter of fact and some meat.

Meat was different, but it tasted wonderful, it really got the boy's blood pumping and his strength always increased with it. The two reached the Kokiiri Forest at nine o'clock that night. Everyone slept around that time, so he was afraid Saria was, no she wasn't. Somehow, in his heart, he knew Saria was waiting for him. Twenty-two days had passed since he had left the forest and now he was back here…he was home. Three weeks and one day, it was weird, it seemed longer.

_--------------------_

"I think the jump is too far, Navi, I am not going to follow that stupid Deku's advice and break my neck." Link was standing on that long rope bridge, peering over at the end. Sure, it led into the Lost Woods, but the fall was like twenty feet! The little farie couldn't help but agree with the boy, and nodded her head in conformant. "You're right, Linky-chan, besides, it's only eleven-thirty and everyone has to be asleep by now."

"But we pass right by mid--."

"I don't care, I will take him down myself, if I have too."

Link smiled and stared down sheepishly… "Alright, thanks Navi, you're the best." Navi smiled back and perched upon his turquoise hat, looking forward into that brown log that led into the Kokiiri Forest.

"I'm ready…two weeks is a long time."

"Sure is, so hurry up." That was all the encouragement Link needed for his encouragement, so he pushed forward into the log. Into the twenty feet deep log, he ventured; noticing there wasn't a guard at the entrance. Loki must have been slacking off, because this was his time, at night. Walking upon the balls of his feet, he pushed forward into the Kokiiri Forest.

Crickets murmured all through the forest, as the pale moonlight shimmered in through the day. It's been so long… Will she not care? Link had passed by the training center and went right to Mido's house, the Lost Woods were right above his house, about fifty feet up…was the large wooden entrance to the path of destruction. That wasn't a fifty feet climb, though, a small ledge was sticking right off of Mido's house and he climbed up that easily. Then there was a space forward and some vines that led up to the main path and he had climbed this path before and was for certain that the vines would hold.

"Link? Will they hold, remember the Deku Tree's."

"I've been to the Lost Woods, Navi, I know they will work." Indeed, they did work, because within fifteen minutes he was up the forty-foot climb, only after three breaks. The boy was growing indeed, because last time he and Saria stopped for at least six times. Wow...it seemed incredible that in just a few weeks he was twice as stronger! After the climb was the real scary part, the woods… Climbing in through the hollow log, he released into a small area with four entrances that were the following: North, South, East, and West. South was where he came from, so he stared around and heard the music…that beautiful music. "She's here, we just have to follow her music!"

"Her music, that's her playing?"

"Yea."

"She's a great player…"

"Mmhm! She's been playing since I was an infant, and I remember it all. She would play and I would dance…"

"You dance?"

"…Well, not a very good dancer."

Giggling, she fluttered down to his shoulder and pecked his cheek. The boy would be able to hear better than him, her ears were just as long, but the boy's were bigger and could withstand greater distances. She heard it though and pointed to the east. "There?"

"Yea, that's great, I can hear her music clear as day!"

To the east he went, and he was correct, because if you got lost in the Lost Woods it sent you back to the end or you got lost in the middle. He knew it was the correct way for the target was there. What target? There was small target hanging from a tree that was planted at the bottom of the small cliff. You see, when he entered he was on top of a small cliff, that fell about seven feet, and hanging up was a oak tree with a small clothe target upon it. Pulling out the Farie Slingshot, he aimed and struck the target a few times, that was when the scrub jumped up. His shrub was planted on the top part of the tree, away from the bull's eye and he trotted to the end of the tree where Link was firing. "Very good!"

"H-huh?" He was about to fire when the voice sprang free, he looked up and stared at the shrub, but this one looked friendly. "S-sir?"

"You're firing, you got three bull's eyes."

"Oh, well…I've been practicing."

"I see, well take this. It'll bring you great use, you smell like a warrior, and a warrior needs ammunition. From his muzzle spat a bag and it landed right before Link's feet. Before he could complain or reply, the shrub was back in his deku hole and gone to the world.

Navi fluttered down and lifted the bag up to Link's height, it was not wet, and was made of a clothe material with little seeds sticking out. "A Deku seed bag, wow! Link, this is great."

"Wow…how many are in it." He had been sparsely collecting them in his pocket, and now scrounging around; he felt that none were inside his pockets.

"It can hold forty and it has forty in it! Wow, this great, it saves room and has easy access."

Grinning, he slipped it into the pocket of the side pack he usually kept his seeds in and it fit firmly. Yes, this was turning to be quite an adventure.

_--------------------_

With the Deku bag, the new one, replaced. Link wasn't ready to go deeper into the woods. Peering over the balcony, he saw two skullkids upon the branches, and they were playing some small flutes. Each of them looked strange in their habitual mode, they were a little different than he had read of. Some had said they weren't even children at all, but giant monsters that could gobble you up. In an instant, he watched them and knew that was them, the masks and markings seemed the same.

"N-Navi! Look at those Skullchildren." Navi had seen it all right; she just stared down at the Skullchildren. As the legend went, if a Hyrulian child or any other race, is lost in the woods that he or she would turn into a Skullchildren. Kokiiri's were the only kind that would not turn into the children. Not at all like the Stalchildren, those were friendlier to the Kokiiri, but adults disgusted them.

The Skullchildren, only being small showed their only resemblance to children, but they were dressed in such a tribal manner. Each seemed to have a domestic look upon it, though, like they were acting without the looks. Their eyes also seemed more intelligent than the natives that were already read about. Ancient masks adorned their faces, keeping what was behind, and away from the public. The two were about half the size of Link, their clothes in a rebellion manner.

"Should we go see them?"

"It wouldn't hurt, Link, they do seem to favor Kokiiri." Walking to the ladder, Link slid down the seven feet and walked over to the smaller stump, a few feet from them. From this point of view, he could view what the Skullchildren were on weren't stumps, but half-cut trees. Pulling out his Ocarina, he blew a note to get their attention.

Abruptly, they stopped playing and looked towards the little Kokiiri. One of them, the one upon the taller stump-tree, spoke. "Who're you, Little Kokiiri?"

"M-my name is Link. A-and this is Navi." He pointed to Navi, who was sitting upon his hat, shaking with fear.

The taller one began to laugh full heartily. "Don't worry, little farie. Neither my friend, nor I shall harm either of you. Ah! I see you carry an Ocarina, young Kokiiri, might we play? I shall give you a present if you could follow my tune great enough. What do you say?"

"Well, sure." He needed the practice with the Ocarina, anyway. Somehow, these certain notes gave off special powers, or a special aura, wasn't it?

"Great, then let's begin." He and his friend both began to play their flutes. First they were a simple three notes pressed together, and then Link followed them accordingly. That was when they skipped to some more difficulty, play six notes this time. Link was hardly able to follow them, but now he had finished the six tunes together. Now was when they skipped past six and then the Skullchildren went to eight notes. Taking a deep breath, trying to remember their order, he stared forward and played it. Wow, he thought he had done it right, but then the Skullchildren looked forward at him. Link frowned, stepping off the stump a headed back towards the ladder.

"…Where are you going, young Kokiiri?"

"I messed up, didn't I?" Of course he had, he just knew it.

"No, young Kokiiri, you've preformed well."

Giggling, he went forward and stood on the stump proudly, holding the Ocarina in his fist. Reaching into his pocket, the Skullchild threw a glass-jeweled case at him. Link caught the jewel case and gasped at the kid. "The fourth heart! Oh, thank you! Than--" But the Skullchildren were gone, and the two partners were alone.

"Link, you did it. What did he--Oh!" Navi saw the fourth section of the heart and fished the three-quart's part out. Handing it to Link, she sat upon his shoulder, eagerly watching. "Link them."

Pushing the two parts together, they disappeared and a newly formed heart appeared. The heart turned into two smaller, each a little bit tinier than the others did. The new heart's pushed inside of Link and Navi, with full force, causing Link to scream out loud. Newly energized and a newfound strength flowed through his pulsing body. Reaching forward, he felt his warrior presence grow a little more than it usually was. It seemed that Navi's grew too. Her barrier turned brighter blue, and she stared at Link. It was new, the only way to describe the feelings were of accomplishment. The process was over in only about seven seconds, but it was gone.

"W-what happened, Navi?"

"The heart piece was just like the blue light!" She buried her face into his cheek, kissing it gently. "If we find these, we can beat Ganondorf. These hearts and the blue lights strengthened, healed, and re-energized us."

"Heal us, hey, you're right." He just noticed this. The boy had been dirty and tired, but now he was fully advantaged and clean. Running her hands over his tunic, he noticed it was clean. Even though it had been repaired at the Hyrule Castle, he had torn it on the way to Kokiiri.

"Okay, the blue light and heart containers. Let's find as many of those as we can!" Climbing up the ladder, the young hero walked deeper into the woods, following her melody.

_--------------------_

There were a series of eight more paths before he reached the garden of the Sacred Forest Meadow. The meadow was grassed out on the left and right ends of it leading up to the brown dirt wall that protected the meadow from intruders, but more peculiar of all was the entrance. Usually a small entrance was there for the boy and Saria to pass through. A now there was a gate that was standing right before them, blocking their entrance. Four bars sharp as hell, sticking up and keeping him from getting inside the meadow.

"Link, I thought you said you came here all the time." She huffed a little, Navi had never been this far out before.

"I don't know, it's never been locked…"

"Is there a magic word?"

"…Navi…"

"I don't know! Goddess, hmm, where too now. Let's just try coming up to it and yelling."

Link didn't mention that the inner meadow, as he sometimes called it, was four miles through puzzles of garden mazes. Quite fun this place was one reason Mido never got in and he and Saria spent their time alone there. The 'secret' place is what the two called it, because no one else knew about it. Or no one else could grant access to it, even if they did survive the Lost Woods. While he stepped forward and thumped the bars, he didn't seem to notice something staring at him, a particular something with gleaming yellow eyes.

_--------------------_

Delicious, it was delicious. The creature had been hidden in the woods for quite sometime, and this was rare. Kokiiri! Yes, there was that older one that she saw occasionally, but this one was young and pure. Only ten years! Thanking her luck, the strong beast snapped her jaws once and rushed forward. Beautiful gleaming fur adorned the seven foot tall structure, and able to stand on two legs, the paws extended double razor sharp claws. Fur of ash condemned the muzzle filled with teeth of sharp resonance. Pushing both paws into the ground, it leapt forward and was determined to sink her teeth into his flesh, that beautiful body was going to be a meal worth years of enjoyment.

_--------------------_

"Wolvo!" Navi screamed out when the howl burst out, yes, they always howled when they attacked. If Link had been slower and not known what a Wolvo was, he would be dead, but he didn't…the boy blocked. This creature, a wolf of some sort, slammed into the shield with all its might, growling and screeching for his blood. Quickly acting, she streamed to the monster's eyes and flashed an incredible brilliance of light. The light was too much, and the Wolvo hid quickly inside the lush grass that covered it completely, howling with ear-piercing intensity.

_--------------------_

Wolvo, as in that thing she talked about? It seemed so because when his shield went up, in sort of an instant stability, instead of defense he felt the most intense pressure in the world. Two hundred pounds of muscle slammed into the shield, smashing him against the dirt-clogged wall. Leaping upward, he stuck the shield in his left hand and fished out his Kokiiri Blade. Yes, this was it, a challenging battle with a monster! Almost bloodlust filled his mind, but he wasn't that crazy, all he wanted was to distinguish the monster, then get to Saria. So, he leapt forward, into the bushes, after that demented wolf.

The blade went instantly forward and that would have been the end of it, but it wasn't, now was It? It was just the beginning… the claws were raised up and blocked the sword! What's happening? How did it block the sword! Nevertheless, one of the claws blocked the sword, while the other went for his gut, and would have made it, if not the Deku Shield. That Deku raised and hit right above the eyes, stopping the claw flat. Leaping up, at least four feet, he came down with sword at full risk into the Wolvo's torso. It began to struggle and threw him aside, like a rag doll.

"I shall do what I can, hopefully the training will help." She muttered out as her entire body began to shine a pure yellow colour. This yellow was surrounding the Wolvo, but of course she didn't see the farie, that farie was so small and dull.

_--------------------_

This thing was stronger than it looked was, he blocked her and then she was blinded by something. Some sort of farie, she didn't know the guardians actually protected their masters and mistresses! Wow, this was a new turn of events, that was for sure, she had expected none of this. Nevertheless, it wouldn't stop her, the determination was pushed even further now. Blocking that cold metal, she was then blocked and stabbed through the torso.

The pain! This pain was immense, like being boiled into a thousand suns. The suns were already cold and survived inside of her breast…growling out a guttural cry, she threw the boy aside and stared off to the side. The wound was fatal, unless she found a farie garden and groped them out against there life…no, no time, just enough to take him out. Indeed, he was out for the count, so why not taste that flesh for a quick second? Leaping forward, she landed right beside him and licked the muzzle, below lowering her head to feed.

_--------------------_

_No! He was not going to die!_ Her own force would make sure of that, with or without the training, she would do what she could to care for him. That was something this force was going to make sure of. Thank the Goddesses that Impa trained them, because there was no way he could have dodged this enemy, without the training. How foolish of the Deku Tree to send him off without any proper training, did they want him to die! Now, with her barrier shining a bright yellow, she stared at the Wolvo as it pinned him down and concentrated for a second more.

The second seemed like eternity, but it was over before its teeth pieced his flesh, the second ended and a beam of chi light slid into its body. The chi light began to disintegrate its entire body, right before her eyes, the whole body was done in about five seconds and all that remained was a light of dust. T-this power…it was incredible, there was no way to describe the feelings she felt. Instinctually, she fluttered to his side and kissed his wound, a small gash was on his forehead, not a deep one…it was only bleeding light, but the gash was nasty. Saria would be able to heal it.

_Clink!_

_What was that! _Looking forward, Navi saw the small little gates give way and slid down into the earth, wow, it seemed the Wolvo was the triggering device to open the gate.

_--------------------_

He was able to raise himself up and limped forward through the maze, the maze surprised and irritated the young Navi. She had to help him hold his shield, to deflect the Deku Nuts, at those mad scrubs. They were off running like cowards, so there was no reason to execute them. Over five mazes, and two hours later, they reached a small area that had two Mad Scrubs and stairs descending upward into some new area, that is when Link ran.

Not even bothering to block, he slammed the down the first one's throat, dodging the second's nut and sliced the second one in two as it tried to desperately hide in it's protective bush, but that wasn't enough, nothing was enough for him. The bleeding, when they reached a small lake, was washed and wrapped a small tear from his tunic…he desperately needed to stop tearing the tunic and get some first aid-supplies. The tear of clothe wrapped around his forehead, like a bandanna, but that didn't matter…nothing mattered, he could hear the Ocarina closer than ever! She was just up those stairs.

There he ran inside of the inner meadow and stared forward, in amazement. There was a small gossip stone to the right, and inside the middle was one of those platforms of the Triforce! He surely hadn't noticed this before, and it was the same colour as the original one, but the small medallion in the middle had a different insignia upon it. Up forward ahead, about twenty yards, were a few stumps and upon the one in the center, she was.

Those beautiful blue tiers pressed down into a closed expression, blowing into the small instrument that was the resemblance as his. She hadn't even noticed him yet, well, that was great. He crept forward, a few paces, the tears escaping his eyes, and when he thought of that day…so long ago, he cried even harder to himself. Finally, three feet from her, he collapsed onto the ground and fainted. What he fainted from was always hard to tell maybe the joy of seeing her? Maybe the blood losses from his scalp earlier or maybe a little of both?

_--------------------_

_Huh? A sound? No one can get up here, unless a Wolvo!_ She was too scared to look, and stared down for the next ten seconds. There was no howl, no pain, and nothing else, but the fluttering of her own farie's wings. Saria began to blow on her Ocarina, until she realized something.

_Wait!_ Her farie was sick today; she was at Saria's house, in the bed! Then whose farie…Mido was here? Maybe, but she hoped to Farore that wasn't true. Looking forward, the sight she saw made her eyes widen in excitement and then in fear. There was her Kokiiri boy, lying on the ground, a few feet from her, and Navi was at his side trying to awaken the beauty. Why wasn't he waking up! She dropped her Ocarina on the grass and leapt forward, slamming into the soft patches, two inches from him. "N-Navi!"

"Oh, Saria! H-he fought a Wolvo to get the entrance open and then smashed into a wall, do you have a farie!"

"N-no, but hold on!" Saria literally leapt to her satchel; right by the stump she rested on, and pulled out a small red potion. Sprawling back to the scene, she sat Link's head inside of her lap and tried to make him drink it…no deal! He wouldn't take it! So, she opened her own mouth and let her take all the liquid inside of her mouth, but instead of swallowing, she opened his mouth deep-mouth kissing Link. That was a better way to do it, this way the liquid wouldn't get sapped out of her lips.

_--------------------_

"What are you doing, Saria, he needs that…elixir?" Well, she couldn't believe her eyes. There, right before her, the wise and sweet Saria deep-mouth kissed her Linky. Jealously flared inside of her body and she flew to her face, having a curse out, in the Faric language, before speaking in the understandable tongue, Saria not hearing a word of it.

"I am doing something, now stop bothering me." She didn't sound mean, just stern in her thoughts and nodded a little more, going back to kissing her.

"What are you doing! This is not the time for romance. Don't you see he is dying!" She didn't stop, though, she kept pouring herself into the kiss, which boiled and burbled the jealously inside of Navi's heart. How dare she, how dare she kiss his Linky!

_Why is that?_ Spoke another voice.

_Because, he's-- Because he's-- Because he's…_

_Because he's what? Yours? Don't make me laugh, you can't handle him, he is not yours!_

_Yes he his! Cried out Navi, silently. He is mine and I am his. _

_Think what you want, but he is hers._ The voice stopped, and Navi stared out into space, ignoring Link and Saria…maybe it was true. Maybe they were nothing but partn-- wait, isn't that what she wants! So confused, so confused… Moving over to his shoulder, she lay upon it and fainted, dead to the earth.

_--------------------_

Did the fairie have some sort of nervous breakdown, she wondered aloud as the fairie began to slide down to the earth. No, she just fainted, that was all, was all that he could conclude. Saria concluded that and continued to kiss the boy, but in actuality, she was putting the liquid inside of his throat, from mouth to mouth resuscitation. When she finished that bottle, she fished out another and did the same thing, watching the little farie go to a faint. _Yes, nothing but a faint._ About ten minutes later, and after the third and last bottle, Saria sat back, wiping her lips and glanced down at him. This would work, the elixirs always worked.

_--------------------_

All he could remember was some gates and a wolf…or something like that, a sharp pain and that was all he could remember. Maybe not in that order, but he came too and could hear breathing right at his chest, which was most likely Navi. Sometimes during the night she would rest on his chest, or anywhere else, then stare at him longingly for hours. Her presence on hers was something he adored to do it with, the fairie felt so lovely around her. It was weird how she did it, sometimes he asked if she was sick, and her reply would be as usual.

"…Yes I m-mean I'm fine, Linky!" Then she would smile and lay her head back down. She was sick with something all right, but he couldn't quite place it. Sometimes, he even caught her watching him bathe, not in a perversity way, but she watched his face from the sleeping bag, occasionally. _But, I'm not with her, at a tent, now am I?_ She was there, no one breathed as softly, yet as deeply as she did, but he wasn't asleep. Had he been unconscious? Yes, that was it.

Rising up, he felt a hand push him back, while a beautiful voice, not Navi's, speak. "Hey, you sit back and rest. You took a nasty gash to the head." Hues of cerulean stared up into the matching ones of an older girl.

"S-saria! Oh, Saria!" Disobeying her orders, he leapt forward, and tackled her to the ground. Laughing wildly, he giggled and nuzzled her neck affectionately. He had found her! He had found her, finally! Yes, kissing her cheek, he pushed himself back, but was promptly pushed back into the grass.

"…I'm glad to see you, now lay back and get some rest! Now!" She could be quite demanding, when she wanted, so he sank into the grass…gathering up unconsciousness Navi, placed her under his hat and sank back into dreamland.

_--------------------_

Five more hours passed before he awoke again, Navi had awoken about three hours before and left sulkily. When Saria had asked where she was going, Navi had replied that she was "taking care of some business before they leave, tomorrow." That was the last she saw of her, the entire day. Overall, Link had been asleep for eight hours, since arriving in the forest. It was around five o'clock, when he raised up and stared at the ground, moaning.

He had such a headache, the bandage from his forehead was gone, but when he traced his hands up there a scar was in its place. The headache subsided when something was pressed to his lips and he gulped it down, but then he peered up and met into her gaze. "…Saria?"

"That better?" She pulled the bottle away from his lips, slipping it into her satchel and rested right down beside him. Still wearing that forest dark sweater, with the lighter shirt under it, and those small shorts that showed off her legs. Bending down, she sat down right beside him, and stroked his cheek.

"Mmhm…it feels much better, what was that?"

"An ole' Deku elixir, believe me, Link…you don't want to know the ingredients." Her smile came upon and she giggled a little bit, shrugging her shoulders off a little bit.

He let out a small stream of giggles, then gasped and felt under his hat. Noticing this, because each morning, when he awoke with her under his hat, a small warmth was around his hair, but this morning it was as cold as the rest of his body. "Navi, where is she?"

"I don't know, she was mad and left about three hours ago, she seemed sad." Saria frowned, after she had woken up, she had left with little or few words for the older Kokiiri.

"Navi's moody sometimes, she just stares at me sometimes…she's a little odd, but she's sweet." He wouldn't mind her, fact was she was a great person to have around with sound, body and soul.

A quick nod from her and then moved a bit closer, wrapping her arms around his body, before taking him inside of her arms. Those arm were so warm, wrapped around him, placing him right in the center of her lap, turning him towards her. It was fun to be held upon, to be held in those arms they were so comfortable just like when he was younger. Except now they had another use, the feelings were different, he couldn't help but be nervous. Link couldn't help it as the dark colour rushed to his cheeks, and giggling nervously. "Saria, did you miss me?"

"…Of course I missed you, silly. Without you here, I had Mido to deal with…" She nodded a little, and stroked her fingers along those blonde streaks, smiling a little bit towards him.

"…Sorry." Mido could be a pain, that was for sure, he seemed a bit sad that she had to go through that.

"So, why haven't you been back sooner?" A subject change, there was no way she was gonna dwell on the past, he was here and that's all that mattered.

"Oh my Goddess, Saria! You won't believe how big Hyrule is, it took me about a week to get there!" His eyes misted before, were night illuminating with excitement.

"Really, wow, what did you see." Adventure stories, like Link, had always interested her--she was the one whom had always told him about them.

"Oh, I brought you a present!" Jumping from her lap, he fumbled for his satchel and sat back on her lap (he always enjoyed it there) taking out the bottle of Lon-Lon milk, propping it to her lips. "Drink."

"What is-ugh!" Her mouth was filled with the sweet taste of liquid. Mm…it was so delicious, and she couldn't help gulping down the whole bottle. When she was done, Saria let out a small burp and giggled a little. "What was…that, Link?"

"Milk." Great milk, the boy just nodded his head a little bit towards the girl and kept his hands in his laps, curling around her fingers.

"K-Kokiiri Milk?" The feeling from that made her want another taste of this strange and new type of beverage. The older Kokiiri really did love it, and smiled a little, holding his own fingers in her own, entwining them. She had drunk great milk from the Deku Tree had been saplings, but the taste wasn't as great as this. Of course the Deku Milk was sweeter, while this one had a better taste too it, it was hard to explain. With this, she wanted to knew exactly how you could get more of this drink, that would be a great way.

"No, it comes from an animal called a cow, and the milk is for their babies, but this is different. It comes out of their udders, or…err." His cheeks flushed a little, and he shrugged his shoulder a little bit, smiling cutely and nervously.

"…What?" She blinked, Link could usually tell her anything, there had never been any secrets between them

"Teat." He pointed at her chest uncomfortably, and stared off to the side, his shoulders getting another shrug again.

Link blew a sigh out and began to explain the process of how Hylians got their milks from their mothers. From the way Saria was looking at him, she couldn't tell what he was talking about. So he had to spill out what it was, and nodded a little bit, beginning his own explanation. The Deku Tree fed the Kokiiris, when they were infants, from small saplings of some kind of milk. This explanation was very different, and when he was done, Saria was flustered with embarrassment, too. "Oh, there."

"Y-yea, there. Did you have a funeral?" A nice change of pace, he would get her back to a better subject so that the conversation wouldn't get any more embarrassing.

"Yes, we had a ceremony the day after you left, for the Deku, not you. Have you been in the Kokiiri Forest?" Everyone assumed that he was dead, though a small ceremony preformed by Saria and a few select girls was given for them only.

"Well, some, I passed by Mido's house and that was it, why?" He watched her mouth move and seemed to understand, what came next her knew what it was, that wasn't that surprising.

"…Don't go to your house." Frowning, she nodded a little bit more and looked over towards him, then stared down sadly.

Link's eyes widened, his possessions were in there, what did they do to his place, he wondered. _No…what did he do!_ Link stared deep into her eyes; she was staring to the side. "What did Mido do!"

"Don't worry, sweetheart, I got out all your stuff. It's all in here, it's in the tree off to the side." Of course that was a premonition for what was going to come next, the only reason was the house.

"Saria…?"

"Mido and his men, not the women, they had no part in this. Mido and his men went inside your house, the day after you left, and burnt it down." She sulked down somewhat and nodded.

"Burnt it down! What do you mean!" Of course there was nothing else to say, nevertheless he wanted to know what the hell happened.

"Mido and his men burnt your house, and the tree down. I got out all your stuff, Link, but I know it hurts. I was mad, too. But now he is being overbearing, insisting you are a traitor and never can come back. What time did you sneak in?" She nodded, and decided to change it before he started crying, that was one of the first gifts she had created for him.

"Nine o'clock."

"Alright, well, let's stay here for the day, Navi said she's going on some "Farie business."

Link just stared at Saria with a confused look plastered upon his face. "Farie business? Well, never mind; let's stay here. I want to tell you all about what I've done. You eager to listen."

"You bet!"

The rest of the day was spent with Link telling Saria all about his adventures. He told her about how he went inside the Deku Tree, the entire puzzles, and battle with Gohma and what happened to the Deku Tree. How he really died, and not Mido's lies. Of course Saria already believed him. Next was the trip to Lon-Lon Ranch, the fight against the Skull Children and traveling down to Hyrule Castle. Talking about the Temple, how he played those weird games, which delighted Saria all together and sneaking into the castle, and then he got to the part where they were trained.

"You were trained for eleven days? Wow…by whom?"

"She was Princess Zelda's guardian, and she was tough. I think I am tougher than any of the Kokiiri's around."

"You beat Gohma, of course you are."

"Hee…Saria…"

Link didn't leave out a single detail, he told her the Deku Tree's of creation (which she already knew), and the Royal Family's version of the story (which she didn't know), about Ganondorf, and the Ocarina songs he just learned.

"Let me play them for you?"

"Sure, I want to see how great you've gotten."

"Well, not as great as you, Saria-chan." Stepping off her lap, and sitting down a few feet infront of her, there he pulled out his wooden Ocarina, from his side pack that was still around his waist. Pushing the circular bodied instrument, with the tube-shaped blowing piece off the top and blew into it. While he played into it, the tune of the Royal Family streamed out. The tune was soft and sweet, having a nice melody. Next was the melody he learned from Epona, and he didn't even need the papers for the tunes. He knew them by heart! When he was finally done, the boy sat eagerly, watching her with full attention.

"Wonderful! You have gotten so much better, Link, honey! Want to learn my tune?"

"Oh, yes! I want to learn your tune so much!"

"Alright, but it is a bit more advanced than those two." Saria reached out and pulled her own Ocarina from her pockets. The difference between the two Ocarinas was that Saria's didn't have the little inscription that she had written upon his. Hers was also a little more use, and showed the signs of it. Grabbing his stationary, and a small pencil, she wrote down the notes for him, under the Lon-Lon Melody and handed it back to her. Blowing into the Ocarina, she played the tune beautifully, but this tune was different from the others. This tune was quicker than the others and had a fast-paced movement to it. Link couldn't help but hum the tune; it was, after the entire one he grew up with.

After she finished, she nodded to him and smiled. "Now your turn." The first time was disaster, as with the other songs, but she simply patted his head and made him try again. Since the tune was longer, he spent about twenty minutes trying to learn it. When he didn't need to memorize it, he placed the paper back inside his satchel and began to play it by heart. A little tuning, three hours later, he was back up to speed with her, but not as great as she was.

_--------------------_

During that time Link didn't see Navi, but Navi saw Link. There actually was some business, she traveled and mourned to the Deku Tree. On her way, she viewed the Link's disastrous house, that was quite sad, but that was about it. When she went back to the Sacred Forest Meadow, after getting lost through the woods about seven times, she came upon the part where Link told her about his adventures. She just perched up a tree and watched the whole scene, he was only at the parts about where they first entered the Deku-sama and she wanted to see if she would actually seem important. Wow, and this was very surprising, he talked about her with the deep most respect.

"She saved me…I don't know why, we had known each other for only seven hours, and she saved me. It's weird, Saria; she makes me feel good. I feel the same when I am with her, when we are together. She and I, we are two, and partners until I find my way out of this mess."

"What mess?" Saria had asked.

"I'm getting to that…"

Several other times she was mentioned and greatly respected, it was shown in the way that he acted. It was the way that Link acted towards her that seemed to renew her faith in the boy, his feelings. That voice was wrong, that voice didn't know what it was talking about, though she was even more confused. She loved Link and Link loved her, and so what if Link had a crush on Saria, she was much older. Saria didn't feel the same about Link, he was obviously too young for her, it was a great thing for her.

_You're a Farie._ The voice had returned.

_So what! _This new person she hate and detested, though she just nodded along and kept intact with it.

_You are just a Farie, get over it. _

_And he is just a Kokiiri!_

_About ten times your size._ The voice rambled on for a few more minutes, before she closed her hands over her ears and it left. The voice was gone and he loved Link…that was what there was all too it. She could see a lot of people liked Link. He was strong, brave, and he had faults. He showed them, and for that he was her hero. As she had said before. "...If no one else isn't your hero, than your mine." That wasn't the exact quote, but something around those words. It was corny, yes, but true as could be. There were a few other ladies who admired Link from afar. There was Saria, Malon, the farm girl, and Zelda-sama. Of course, Impa had kissed him, but she was just being coy, nothing else. Each had nice qualities, but he was a hero and only needed one person. _A partner._

_--------------------_

That night, he told her of where he was going next, a weird village named Kakariko Village. From there he was going up to Death Mountain to visit a race of Gorons, some rockeaters. Saria told him as much as he could possibly hope to know about the Gorons, or about Death Mountain. They were an ancient race of large monster-like creatures, but they were friendly. The people were connected with the Royal Family, or so the Deku had said, and they lived off of rocks.

"Rocks?' His voice dripped with sarcasm.

"I am serious, they eat rocks."

"…Wow, that's weird."

"I forgot something, when you play the Ocarina, you can use it as a communication device."

"Communication? What do you mean?" He held out the Ocarina and stared at his, slowly speaking into it. "Hello…hello."

Saria slapped his cheek playfully, and giggled. "No, you little dummy, you play the tune when we are far away and we can speak to each other. It's actually a much better way we can communicate and stop this long trip, but you will be back?" A tone of sadness caught in her voice.

"Yes, Saria…I will travel back, of course I will. After I get the Spiritual Stone of Fire I will come back and after I get the Spiritual Stone of Water. I will come back before I report back to Zelda, so do you have any idea where it might be?"

"No, I don't, but I'll do some research and get back to me after you have the Fire Spiritual Stone, or before. I might be able to tell you, by then."

Nodding, he sat laid down upon the grass, laying on his sides. He stared at the ground, running the grass through his fingers, and pointed towards the end of the meadow. "You can go."

Lying down, right beside him, she stared into his eyes. "Where shall I go?"

"…Well, you can go back to your house, I mean, I am alright alone." Even though he was sad, he kept it on as a mask and decided to her warmth was more important than his well being.

"Well, I'm not going, Link. I hardly see you, let me sleep here, please?"

"O-oh, it's alright! I don't mind, I just thought you were worried."

Saria sat up and scooted over to his side, pulling him up in her arms. "I am worried, but I want to stay with you, why would I rather sleep alone and have Mido banging on my door all night, when I can be with a you, Link."

Flushing, he shrugged and laid his head against her soft shoulder, and wrapped his arms around her neck. There the boy slowly nestled his head into her neck and fell asleep within seconds. His dreams that night were nice and happy, he didn't know what he dreamt of, but the nightmares weren't there. Even before the journey, he'd been having those horrible nightmares for quite some time. Now he really wasn't like that, his dreams seemed a lot better than before, as he wished hers were. Saria couldn't sleep that way, so after twenty minutes of it, she laid him down on his body and laid right beside him, where she fell asleep minutes later.

_--------------------_

Navi spent the night asleep in the tree, all night she dreamt of him, and when she floated across and saw them in the morning, she didn't mind. Her own dreams, since she had been with him had been full of nightmares as well, not as bad as his though. She had decided long ago to stick with him, over this time they had traveled, and push the dreams away. Bad dreams were worth the price of being with her, and she knew that within her heart. _He needs me more._ That was when she went to his shoulder and rested on it, snuggling herself to sleep.

_--------------------_

The boy earned another piece of heart, as he, Saria, and Navi were coming out of the Lost Woods. As they came near the exit, the group ran into another Skullkid. This one was in it's own little meadow. When Link sat up on the stump, the Skullkid looked up towards him. This one seemed quieter than the other two, and from the looks of it, didn't have an instrument at all. A little sad, he felt bad and decided the only way to take care of it was to deal with the problem.

"You can't talk? Hey, how about this?" Pulling out his Ocarina, he slowly played Saria's tune. When he looked up, the skullchild was dancing around joyfully. Reaching into its pocket, and throwing out a small piece of another heart. Link caught this piece, as the Skullkid disappeared.

"Wow, what's that?" Saria peered over his shoulder.

"A piece of heart. " The boy slipped it into his satchel. He looked over at Saria and explained just what was the deal with the lights and the blue fires. That took a few minutes, but when he was done a fascinated Saria glanced lovingly at him.

"Wow, you sure do a lot of stuff here." For the rest of that day, the group looked for any other heart pieces, but found no more than that.

_--------------------_

The very next day, Saria and Link met the same bridge they had met at only a few weeks ago. This time, however, there were no tears or short good-byes. Link, with Navi inside of his hat, wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly. "I'll miss you, Saria."

"Don't speak that way, I am going to see you again." There she slowly leaned forward and kissed his lips, as before, this time not spur of the moment. Those feelings swirled around and he felt the pressure inside his body. The boy felt hotter than ever and when he pulled back, he refastened the satchel and spoke.

"Yes… Yes, of course, I will come back, Saria."

"Goodbye, Link."

"Bye, Saria. You don't worry about me, just be near at our secret place and always…Always be with me."

"I will, in my heart." She knew that she would always be with him, with or without the cool song, which was not the issue here. What was the issue was her affection for her would always be the same, no matter how long it took.

"And in mine, too." With that, he turned around and ended the bridge, and there he went on to the weird village of Kakariko.


	5. Chapter IV The Kakariko Events

-1

Chapter IV: The Kakariko's Events

Copyright: I do not own Zelda, Nintendo does. Story by Habuki productions.

_"Yes ma'am." He replied to the red-haired women, while staring down at the ground, with a bit of flush sprinkling upon those light cheeks in a familiar manner. _

_"Go and get the Cucco's and I'll give you a special treat." Came the voice of the auburn-haired woman, she was looking down upon him with such a giantess, though not as much as a certain Shiekah. The young woman nodded a little with a small giggle and parted the hair out of his face, brushing digits away from his forehead. Kneeling down, she cupped his cheeks, tilting his head forward and kissed his forehead with a small bit of passion pressed into her lips. More of a tempting gesture for one who was quick to take a reward, there seemed to be no other way than to follow these own actions. Link nodded quickly and turned around, looking for those stupid fluffy things with the feathers, the ones who held so many little secrets in his own mind._

He and Navi had left the Kokiiri Forest four days ago, the first day they reached Lon-Lon Ranch and spent the night, with the infuriating Talon trying him with more chores. Denying the privilege, he left early that morning, and the next two days were spent traveling back to Hyrule Market Place. The journey then spent westward, in a new direction, and at three o'clock the fourth day they reached the stairs up to Kakariko Village. The path led up several staircases and when the time was five o'clock they reached the top. How long did it take to reach the top? Link would guess about two hundred feet up to the village? The staircases seemed endless and forevermore. Would they ever end, he had pondered, and well, they finally did, the marble casing ended just as the sun was setting over the horizon.

This village was larger than the Kokiiri Village, but it was smaller than the Hyrule Market Place, hence the name market and village. The entrance was adorned with a top gate made of out some strange wood, but when he asked the guard at the entrance, all the man could say was the time and the name of the village. Not even acknowledging his presence, it was more of the fact that he was being ridiculed for asking a question, if you could call it that. Ignoring him, the group went on, deeper into the village. Not that many shops were around the place; well actually, there were no shops around. Just houses and some carpenters lived in the center of the village, so that something new was placed near the back of the village, something twirling.

"W-what's that!" Link's voice stretched out for what seemed miles around, no matter how small this place seemed, there was still the presence of a big town, it was larger than his Kokiirish home.

"It's a windmill, Link." Navi answered, sitting upon his hat with her veil gleaming around her entire body, the explanation coming out in her matter-of-fact tone, that was a monotonic reason. "The things at the top are being moved by the wind. Basically, it controls the water supply."

"You've been here before?" Of course she had to have knowledge of this place, but was this hands-on experience although there could be the fact that she had read this out of a book. There was that possibility, Link's mind not really caring about the subject, just something to keep the two of them from going out of their minds.

"Nope, I haven't ever been here, but I do know about windmills." Her tone sort of lightened up now that they were talking, the speech between them had been brief and small following the days since they had left.

"Ah, okies." Just like that, Link dropped the subject as quick as it had come up, staring over towards the ground and now noticing the light-green grass that splashed upon the ground. Navi and he were not on very good speaking terms, that was for the reason on what had happened the night before, a small sigh coming over while he stared at the ground still. Feet trailing in a little motionless drag, more of that than a walk, the breath of fresh air was springing from those lips of his, nodding while the memories flooded.

_--------------------_

_The entire trip, Link had been on the edge of the world, so to speak, with the happiness boiling down inside of his little frame, more than it usually held. There was just a simple tone about him, that somehow would make others around him just as happy, like the joy was some sort of disease. If it was, then everyone in the world he had met would have encountered it, even those he had never met, it was like the world was his own desert, and he was eating justly. The Kokiiri had been a little bit giddy and always giggling at the slightest things, even when they weren't in the least bit humorous. Meanwhile his own fairie, Navi, had not pestered him on the subject, but as the days tolled on, she just had to remain the question and so it filed from her mouth._

_"What's going on, Linky, you've been acting weird the last few days." It was true, "weird" was the only acceptable term that she could of for his unusual behavior, he (in the time she had known him) never showing this much happiness for this period of time._

_"I just feel glad we are getting back on the road, finishing out journey." Grinning over towards her, a small hand reached up and stroked her face gently, then going back down behind his back while his walk was more of a skip._

_"…No, that's not it, you seem very gay today. Are you thinking about Saria?" As bad as she wanted to push it away, that must have been it, and when she saw his reaction, a low growl came from her mouth. Although if his ears had matured a little earlier, he would have heard it, but now he didn't hear a thing, and she was quite glad--that thing that escaped her mouth was of pure anger._

_. "Yea, a little bit, but I am ready to complete this journey so we can be together, and you too!" It was something inside of his face that seemed to explode, like she had hammered the nail that was his own brain and gotten it right. In other words, hitting the hammer on the nail was what she did and there his face decided to show the joy until it either stretched out too much of blew up. It really wasn't known if a face did blow up after that much happiness, but if there was, then that would have happened for the boy in this time and place. He giggled and nodded a little while his body was getting ready to spin towards her, the hands still remaining in his lap when he attempted it. _

_He turned to her, cupping her back into his hands, and nuzzling his face into hers, with such affection that when his voice came out, it sounded like an angels. "When this is over, will you still be my farie?" _

_"As long as I can, Linky, I will be yours forever…" Well, she meant a little bit more than he could have ever understood, but that wasn't the important thing, what was important was their time together. So what if the happiness was because of Saria, the fact of the matter was that she got to share the happiness, not the young Kokiiri girl._

_Link nodded and said that he would hers as long as she was his, but that wasn't what made the two so uncomfortable, not at all. What made the two a little angry with each other is what happened that night after they had began camping, it was quite nice thanks to Saria. This was because when they were with her, Saria not only gave him most of his stuff including the following: an extra tunic, nightclothes, soap and powders for bathing, some rubies of her own, a sleeping bag, tinder wood, and some bedrock. She also included a few extra parts so that any injuries could be taken care of; not to mention all the kisses and hugs that were said on their goodbye. Those materials were used to start a fire, so that night they were bathed in the night from the Stalchildren, for it was a known fact that they hated fires and stayed miles from them and that solved that little problem. _

_Their talk that night was not of anything important, they knew where the journey was going to lead them, so there was no point in speaking into that. The feelings between them was not shown as of yet, well, they were in the more mature Navi's, though she was not about to sprout them out at him. That would wait for the time being, so the talk slowed down about near when the moon was almost high in the sky, it was clearing down on a crescent. Pretty soon there wouldn't be much left except the shadows that sprayed out, the remnants of the moon was the only light, aside the fire. After the fire had dimmed, but not yet drawn out, for it would last the entire night to keep the monsters away, Link dug something out of his satchel, and hugged it. The satchel, along with the Kokiiri Blade, Deku Shield, and the side pack were all strung on a stump, a few feet away, so it was had easy access. _

_Navi scurried over from her spot, on his hat, and fluttered down towards his arms looking upward, curious to what resided inside of his arms. The two had no secrets between each other; at least that's what they had said between one another, so this was either something she knew about, or a new little topic. What happened made her eyes widen and she looked up at Link, the anger streaking down inside of her, boiling like the hot coals in a roast. From what she could tell, his face was groggy with lack of sleep, he hadn't had any at all and it was long walks during the day, not that she even cared. Right now the only important thing was to find out that this thing was really there, rubbing her eyes once more, she decided to give it a second glance._

_When the second rub revealed the same object, the kindles had dimmed down, but now were flaring up and even more wood was added. Link wasn't yet asleep, his eyes drifting, but enclosed in his arms was a green-haired little doll, well more of a plushy than those dolls that children carried. The doll had light, green hair with small beads for eyes, and had peachy skin, perfectly crafted in someone who had been taught in the area of sewing. The entire body was made of Deku silk and it was wearing a big sweater, small shorts, and some green shoes, a common material for the dolls, but what the doll consisted of was what it was. _

_"L-Link, what is this!" That was a Saria doll that sat there before her, entangled in his arms, and right now her voiced sounded like a jealous wife finding her husband unfaithful._

_Hmm? Saria and me made them. I made my own self and she made this one and we switched. You like it?" Smacking his tired lips, he looked down at her with the sleep still standing inside of his eyes, then a glance was pushed down and with a small smile, he explained. Saria's had more detail thank Link's, but they were both adorable, and at this time, Saria was curled in her own covers with the doll of him in her arms. _

_"I knew it! I knew you loved her more! First it was sending me off, and now making dolls! Why don't you just go ahead and marry her, Link! Fine, go ahead and be her hero, but you'll need me someday and then you'll be sorry!" She couldn't control it, she tried too, but she just couldn't, her emotions were too strong to keep a hold of, the jealously getting the best of her. Her veil flashed off, she had taken it off occasionally for him, but this was no friendly look, this was a look of hatred, one Link had never witnessed before. It was really sad how she looked, the jealously really did transform someone's face into ugliness, not that she was found repulsive by the boy at this very moment. Her face was drawn up in a shouting movement, and she screamed out as loud as she could, before the droplets began to fall. Tears streaking from her hued orbs and for a few seconds she looked like she would collapse and apologize (although just at that moment, the anger came back) and she was gone into the night._

_Link just stared up at her, trying to interrupt, but was drowned out with a scream every time he tried to intercept, so he ended up sitting there. Confused? No, that couldn't explain the feelings he felt a more appropriate word would be flabbergasted, he really couldn't explain how he felt to realize this. What in the world is she talking about? No time to even speak up, he jumped up, in his pajamas and grabbed his sheath, where the sword rested inside, and not even his shoes were on when he took off into the dark night after the glow. She left small sparkles when she ran, so it was easy to find her, so for twenty-some minutes he ran after the little farie until he saw a small sparkle lying on the ground over a bigger shadow. This night, the moon was new, so he couldn't see what it was until he got closer, but nevertheless he sensed danger and ran with the unsheathed sword. _

_--------------------_

_She didn't know how could she have been doing stupid, the idiocy was what was going to bring her own downfall, especially the un-controlling of her emotions. Why did she run right into its clutches, the evil that would surely be here to swallow her up for her own wrong-doing, not even the boy deserved this. When she took off, away from it all, she wasn't thinking about anything, not even the consequences of her actions, only to get away before she hurt him. All she wanted to do was die…to fall into the ground and rot in her own grave, then the world would be better for the good of them for her to be away. A few minutes later she felt a little better and was over the whole suicide-trip, her emotions finally starting to clam themselves down._

_Now she was caught in the clutches in one of those Stalchildren, while its friend were surrounding them with no escape, they're seemed to be more than two. To her own suspicion, not even able to wipe the tears from her eyes, she realized the amount had more than doubles, it had most likely tripled. Of course she knew that no way was out, even if the monster let go of her, the Chi light was not going do anything except annoy them. Besides, it might be a good thing to go down now, more than cause heartache with all her cries of passion, she knew that it wasn't true, just the darker part of her mind at work. This was bad and while the clutches of claws came closer, she knew that it wasn't his fault, she loved him and yet he wasn't able to understand that as of yet, he was a child._

_Of course, he is still a child, even though he will remain one, there was a deeper meaning to this than just little physical appearance that would take the form of a smaller adult. Maybe a teenager was the most he'd grow to; a young teenager and some even stopped the premature adolescence, the shorter of the forest people. He is still a child, Kokiiri-wise, so he hasn't matured like the rest, which wouldn't be for a few more years, not that it was a long time from now. Was there ever, in the history of the forest, a guardian who fell in love with her protectee, it seemed a little obvious that way? Since she hadn't always studied her history, so there was no way her knowledge dwelt to the reason why there was never a care of Fairie/Kokiiri love, though she believe there was._

_To ruin all of this over a silly friendship doll not only seemed stupid; there wasn't even a word for the stupidity she had shown from them. The two had been together for so long; of course they expressed their friendship in a different way that other people could, like him and her. One day, their friendship would expand to making a doll, maybe even more, there was no way she'd let it end with the slice of a skeleton's claw. Plus, there was no reason in seeing the crush that he held for the girl; she was a pretty impressive Kokiiri, one of the most beautiful of them. Why wouldn't he love Saria, she is his best friend, his foster-mother, and an older woman, it was only natural, the way he felt. Love or crush, it was natural. _

_"Linky! Help!" Crying out his name, she stared into the soul-less holes of the Stalchildren, the ignites of orange were starting to stir up more even than was needed. She knew that it was probably too late, even if he raced out here, there wasn't enough time to take them out before one of them sunk its teeth into her flesh. How evil it would be to die this way, but she knew in her heart that she end would be a blessing, in an evil way, she almost wanted it to come. Those thoughts would of stayed unless she decided that Link would cry over her death--and there was nothing in the world she wanted to do more than stop his tears. The evil dinosaurs were going to eat her; those soldiers of the Old World would finally have a taste of farie flesh, so the scream for her evil screeched out._

_Of course he knew what was attacking her, even without the sounds, there were no other monsters situated on this field in Hyrule. No one else was coming to aid them, so the ambush would be complete, he also had no backup, so this would probably be an unfair fight, for the monsters, of course. His smirk came upon him and that's all he needed, that cry and the scary little scuttle those Stalchildren made, the deriving one that he had come to hate even as the month was about to pass onward. There was no way it was going to end like this, he would make sure, and that piece of steel in his hand would definitely make way for what was to come. With a flash of steel in his hand, the young boy leapt forward with all his might, the dagger held forward like the sword it was to him and leapt into the pile of bodies._

I will not let her die!_ There was when he surrounded the entire area, taking her quickly and tucking her down inside of his hat, noticing her for the first time. She really didn't see much of the fight, since she had passed out, it was good luck she had, for he didn't want her to see the scratches he was going to get--there was no way he'd get through this with no marks upon his body._

_Strikes were blown from all directions, the shield was of no use to the boy, since the moon was not even enough to notice anything, there was nothing left to do but fight. Yet fight what was he did well, so that done with the maneuverability of a pro, the anger in him had sparked such a sensation to help. Empowering him beyond his imagination, there was physically no way he could of won without this god-like power enabled. There was just no way his withstanding would have matched up to twelve or thirteen of them, probably equaling the power of a normal Hylian Guard. Of course he received his match of blows, that was seen from the beginning, but with the power in him, there was no doubt in his mind that he would win--and he did._

_The claws scraped his entire body, not too bad, since he dodged most of them of the attacks, able to move since the power had temporarily enabled him to sense their auras in the dark. That was great work he did, and he threw his own share of the ending winces, knocking the Stalchildren down with whatever the Goddesses had allowed. No matter how many were around, his active duty remained because he would protect her, even though she was out of danger's way now, he'd still live up to his name. She had been brushed with the claws, a little cut up, but she would live, these were given before he scooped her up and jumped in the fight. They both would, and when the ferocious battle was over, he stood with the blade in his hands and a little blood falling from his chest. _

_"Are you alright, Navi?" He spoke before taking her out and putting her on his hand, seeing her temporarily unconsciousness had been knocked out, she was a little freaked out. To make her fears even worse, he fell down to his knees, he turned around and looked down at her, breathing heavily. _

_Navi couldn't help it, the emotions were getting the best of her once again and so she looked at him sternly for a moment before the cries came out of there. She burst into tears and buried her head into his chest, punching him and clawing at his face with the intentness of a wildcat in heat. It wasn't like she was attacking him; the guardian was scolding him in her own language, cursing and telling him how much of a fool he had acted. Link wouldn't know what she said, so he lied down on his back and passed out, right as she came closer and closer to him, knowing in her own mind how much she thanked him for it. Of course thanks was never given, but that night she did mange to curl him back to the fire without any encounters, nursing him with the First Aid Kit._

_--------------------_

Now they were in Kakariko, the two infuriated with each other, but the funny reason was that neither of them really knew why the anger was settling there, though this is what they knew. Link was mad because she got mad over some doll and didn't even try to explain, just storming out on her own and endangering them both. She was mad at him because he came after her, and also angry with her for leaving, plus a little at the doll, though the little plush didn't seem that important. There were more important matters to take into hand, they wanted to make sure that it was okay, but the power did seem to slowly push away. It had been worse a few days ago, at least they spoke a little now, and both were sure that within the hours the fights would cease and happiness would ensue.

The place also had a huge, and a tower estimating at three hundred feet, that stood in the center of the town, right below a house on the ground. Quite an extraordinary place, it had land features that the castle-market could only dream of, the envy was here because this place had a homey feel to it, but even better. A place where you could move into without the crowds, a place that was not as good as his own forest, but gave a nice tone to it. This entire place was unleveled; it seemed, with bumps and hills all over, but that didn't necessary make it made, the un-levelness seemed to give it the hills it needed. Of course, the erosion from the mountains could of done that, so there he had to look over with the unbelievable tone down inside of him, no idea the Mountain of Death was go big!

"Yea, Link, the race of the Gorons live on the center, though. You won't have to climb to the tip of the mountain, about half there." She knew because of the most reliable source in all of the land: The Deku Tree, at least that's what she would of thought only a few weeks ago. Now she knew that there were smarted sources out there, the two of them were going to discover these people together, maybe becoming wiser than them all.

"Navi, just like at the farm, with all of the chickens around." Now he stood in the first half of the village, wide-eyed, because the whole place was overrun with Cuccos, the other name for the chickens. He had no idea why they had two different names, all he knew now was this place was overrun, there were even more than in Lon Lon Ranch.

"Yeah, they don't raise Cucco's at the Market Place, but they raise them here. This village is small, compared to Hyrule, as you can see." Small wasn't even the right word, it was just a little village compared, of course it was a village, there just seemed to be the best place around here.

"I noticed that, there are no shops."

Twenty-foot towering wooden gates were closed off and other places, such as people's doors he knocked on just told him to "…Get the hell out", and whatever that meant. Navi's face would turn up in disgust, and she would lure him away, so he figured one of those words was bad. The next area, near the windmill, was where he met the Cucco Lady named Anjou.

It was complete luck he ran into her at all, while he walking down from the windmill, seeing a weird man inside playing some sort of instrument lured him away from there, and he heard sneezing. Pulling himself down the large flight of stairs, he saw a small red-haired woman holding a Cucco and reacting to it dangerously. He never knew infection and sickness because in the forest everyone was always healthy, so he leapt forward and grabbed the Cucco throwing it aside. That was when she slapped him across the face.

Standing there, dumbfounded, he watched the lady grab the Cucco and stick it inside of the large pen that was to her left. The pen was connected to a large house, above on a hill, that towered over the village. This was one of the largest houses there was, and a guard stood on the other side of the mountain, guarding the door. Link had seen him when he passed through, but now they were near the back, so there was no way to see him or the front of the house. Meanwhile, Navi had stared at Link, shaking her head. She knew about disease, she should have told him.

"W-why did you do t-that?" Link whimpered out, watching the woman stare at him. She was a plain woman, but beautiful otherwise. Her clothes weren't like Princess Zelda-sama's, but instead, she wore a long blue skirt, that came with a tucked in shirt. Right now, her otherwise pretty face was red and infuriated with passion.

"Why did you slap my Cucco's, you naughty little boy!"

"Y-you were making funny noises…I thought it was hurting you…"

"I was sneezing, where are you from, wait until I inform your parents. I am going to the--" She trailed off, staring at the small thing fluttering over his shoulder. "What's that?"

By this time, Link knew only the Kokiiri had faries, so he smiled and spoke proudly of his heritage. "I am a Kokiiri, and this is guardian force, Navi."

"Kokiiri? You are a forest child? No…they can't leave the forest." Of course not, she knew this and by her standards was a little astounded at this boy and whatever he had with him.

"Oh, I can, the Great Deku Tree said so."

"Who is this Great Deku Tree?" Anjou looked bent down at her knees, and watched him inquiry. He sure didn't look like a liar, but how could he be a Kokiiri?

"The Great Deku Tree is the guardian of the forest." Navi spoke up. She didn't want to give away that the Great Deku was dead, because if they found out he was dead, then someone might try to invade the forest for it's jewels. There were no jewels, of course, but did the robbers know that? This Anjou wasn't a thief, or so it seemed.

"H-huh!" Anjou stared forward the tiny veil, it seemed so life-like and that's when she tested to see and to her surprise, the test was a pass. "I-it's real!"

"Of course, ma'am, why would I say she wasn't?"

"A she? How can you tell?"

"It's a veil, miss. My veil can be removed, but I prefer not to remove it." She went up on his hat and laid on it, her wings coming to a rest as she stopped moving, and her shine lowering down. There she stared at the two and stopped speaking.

"So, who are you, ma'am?" Link just noticed her leaning down and giggled a bit, sitting down in the fresh patched grass. That was another thing, the Kakariko Village was patted with grass. When he first entered the Hyrule Market Castle, some of the materials confused him, especially the stone-paved ground. This place was sort of a relief, from the man-made materials of the castle. The grass felt good upon his legs, and so sitting Indian-style, he peered up into her eyes. They were a bit lighter than his were.

"Anjou, and who are you, little boy?"

"I'm Link, Miss Anjou." Pulling his gaze from her eyes, his cheeks softened with a red crimson, shrugging just a little bit.

"Link, Eh? That's a cute name. What are you doing out here, Link?" Even if he was a Kokiiri, he was young and didn't the children have parents or at least guardians of some sort?

"Shall I tell her, Navi? She seems nice enough." Yea, even though they weren't supposed to be revealing their information, this was more important.

"Well, we need something in return." Navi, being quite the contradictor, did not expect to be given anything easy, so this Anjou woman wouldn't get anything in return.

"What do you want?" Anjou, who had been staring at Link, now focused her attention onto Navi, smiling a little. "Well?"

Navi didn't have an idea, so she shrugged her shoulders. It was Link who spoke up. "I…don't see an inn, and we don't have anywhere to sleep. Could we sleep with you tonight? In return for information."

Anjou chuckled and stared back at the boy, a hand went to his cheeks and caressed them. "Sure, but on one condition. I need you to gather up my Cucco's. I am allergic to those Cuccos, but I love them to death, and someone destroyed the pen last night. I repaired it, but my Cuccos are all over town, except this little fellow." She pointed to the Cucco from before, who was inside the pen, asleep.

"But, Miss Anjou." He frowned just a little bit and shrugged his shoulders somewhat, as if trying to get out of this.

"Oh, please, Link. Please and I'll let you stay here, plus I'll give you a treat." That seemed a little bit nicer for the offer, she was sweetening it for him and with a nod, and he smiled.

"Yes ma'am." He replied to the red-haired woman, while staring down at the ground, flushed a little bit.

The woman giggled and parted the hair out of his face, brushing digits away from his forehead. "Go and get the Cucco's and I'll give you a special treat." Kneeling down, she cupped his cheeks, tilting his head forward and kissed his forehead. Link nodded quickly and turned around, looking for those stupid fluffy things with the feathers.

"How many are there?" Navi asked.

"All together five of them, but now three, since we already have two. One was already here asleep, and the other one is the one you threw, now get." She pulled him off and sent him off, patting his behind as sort of a push-off. Link was still looking down when he was twenty yards from her, hiding those cheeks full of passion.

Navi scowled at the woman named Anjou, right before they left, and when they were some ways away, she spoke. "She was a little too friendly."

"Hmm? What do you mean?" He was a little confused, but nevertheless he did listen to what she was saying with his own tone. It was just the way he acted sometimes that made her sigh a little and decide that he was just too naïve. It was a bad thing to be, especially in this world, it didn't seem too bad, but who knew the weirdos in here. There was no telling who was sick in this world, it could be told with some good investigating. The naivete in his voice was coming out; it seemed to be a little bit annoying for her sometimes.

"I think she thought you were cute." She nodded in her response; the older woman was a bit old for Link, plus the fact she was of another race.

"I'm not cute, Navi. Now where are those Cuccos." He could hear the clucking now, but the Cuccos were nowhere to be found. Link had dropped the subject, however she hadn't.

"Yes you are cute, Link. You aren't a handsome young man, like the Hylian women like, but you are a cute little boy, in their eyes. They just want to eat you up." She giggled a little bit, but was a little peeved off at what was happening, the girls were starting to like Link.

"Like Gohma?" He reached for his sword.

She burst into a stream of giggles, and kissed his cheek, her anger was dissipating at his cuteness. "No, Linky, they aren't like Gohma. They love how you look and just want to hug you all over."

"Oh, well, I guess they can…" He shrugged his shoulders, it felt nice when he was hugged by arms, especially the bigger ones.

"No, they can't." She simply stated.

"Why not, Navi? I don't mind."

"I do, you are a hero. I don't want you to become those stupid heroes in the storybooks who get all the glory from every woman in the land. You are going to get praise, but these women want to do bad stuff." She nodded a little bit, and smiled in compliance for her answer, it was some bad news for those women.

"Like kill me?" Link was now at the beginning of town and peered at a small Cucco. Leaping forward, he caught the Cucco in his hands, and turned around, heading back to Anjou. When he dropped it off, there he noticed she was gone. Probably gone to her house to make preparations for us. Link concluded and went back to looking around.

"No, not kill you, other bad stuff." She nodded, knowing he didn't understand; though it was still worth a little try.

"Like what?" He whispered, a little bit scared.

"Like what Gohma was going to do." Gohma was going to do something else before she got for her pray; she knew that in her mind. An old legend, Navi had looked it up some time ago and from her memory, was what she remembered. The Gohma was a female spider and she only feasted upon males, which explains why she didn't go after Navi. When the monster went for the's pray, it would sexually attract them upward, then feast upon their sexual organs. A sick ritual, it was what got the spider off, for some strange reason.

"You said they wouldn't eat me, Navi." Now, he past the beginning of the village, which signified the near center, by a huge palm tree bearing the mark. Under that tree, someone was laughing in a manner to himself, he couldn't see whom he was laughing at, but the man seemed good enough as anyone for information. He looked at the old man, grayed hair and balding, then spoke to him. "Mister?"

"What do you want, kid." The man was a bit rough looking, with a pair of arms that looked like they had seen many years of working out, somewhat.

"I'm looking for some Cuccos, mister, and I need to know have you seen any?" Anjou, he needed to get those chickens before the night-fall, that way he could get a free night's sleep and a prize.

"My daughter has Cuccos, why do you need some?" He seemed a bit suspicious, there was just something weird about a child sitting there with a sword and shield.

"A lady name Anjou is asking we find them, she's allergic to them." Navi stayed quiet, she didn't like to direct her attention to people she didn't like, and she did not approve of this man.

"Anjou? That's my daughter, what do you want with her!" Of course now he did seem more serious and growled somewhat, a muscled arm raising up as if to strike the young boy.

"H-huh? We just need to find some Cucco's, she said she would give me a room and give me a surprise."

"Oh…only that," He knew the surprise and nodded in approval, his girl had been giving that out for quite sometime, when stragglers broke the cage. "Some of the Cucco's like to hide in the boxes around town, so try those, young lad." He said one other thing; something about his daughter needs to ask before permission, and walked off into the deeper section of the village.

"Under some boxes? What did he mean, Navi?"

Navi heard some clucking and pointed to the northeastern section, yea that seemed somewhere near. There, next to the stairs that led to a place he hadn't been, was a small box that was shuffling. Clucking was heard from inside of the house, and Link walked to the box, smashing it open. Inside was a small Cucco trying to get out of the place, but before it could get away, he had it. This time, however he didn't let the chicken go, he headed back to a small section where a large section looked like it was being built.

Construction equipment was strewed all over, but the screw didn't seem active at the time. Probably on a break, he concluded, as he watched no one around, which seemed a bit suspicious. Walking up to the area, he looked across the area and saw there was another Cucco across the stretch. This one was barred up by one of those large gates, but if he could get across he could get it. Then he had an idea; it appeared down inside of his mind and that was when he came about with it.

"The Cucco!" He nodded; there would be a way to get away with it.

"Which one?"

"Let's glide over and get it." Before she could comply, he leapt across the crevice, holding the Cucco high in the air. This Cucco flapped its wings, so he and it didn't fall at all, they just floated across the twenty feet crevice and landed next to the clucking machine. Picking both of them up, he floated back and raced his way down until he reached the pen, throwing the two animals back in. There he saw on the fence, and waited until Anjou came back from her chores or whatever she was doing. She was not there, it was strange, though he had nothing better to do, and he was a little tired anyway.

_--------------------_

Anjou returned at about three hours later, at eight o'clock. She found all the Cuccos and cheered him on, that is when she pulled a small glass bottle out from behind her back and presented it to him. It was just like the one from the Lon-Lon Ranch, but a tad bigger. "Here you go, Link, a reward for your services. Now are you ready to come home with me."

"Urm, Miss Anjou, I'd like to explore. What's back there?" Pointing from behind them to a bath that led into the darkness.

"It's the graveyard, Link. All right, my house is right near the center of the village, from the tree you go north and it's the first house you see on the front. I will leave the light on for you, so hurry back." Bending down, she kissed his forehead and walked off into the village. He couldn't see if she headed for the house, but he had a small hunch that's where she headed.

When she was out of the distance, he turned towards Navi and whispered out, so that no one else could hear "Graveyard?"

"It's a place they bury the dead, Linky. When a person dies, they bury him in the ground so he isn't exposed to the world." He didn't quite understand, but he turned around, stuffing the bottle into his side pack and headed down into the darkness. The next few minutes of walking, it seemed the world go darker, and fear began to shiver down his spine. Link kept Navi close, using her almost like a flashlight, and she kept herself closer to him.

"Let's go, Link."

"No, Navi, I want to go and view this 'graveyard.'" You see they never had graveyards in the Kokiiri Forest, because the Kokiiri never died. Each Kokiiri was born every three hundred years, and Link was the newest of the pack, but they never died. These forest children remained just as they were. They remained children for all eternity, the only way they died is if a monster was there, and the monsters had disappeared centuries ago.

"Link--please." She didn't feel the urge to go trekking through the undead tonight, nor she really any night.

"Navi, please, let's just wonder around then we can go back and see Anjou." He tried the same techniques upon her and smiled in compensation a little bit, giggling when she seemed to give in.

"I'd rather be in a graveyard than with Anjou." Navi muttered lowly.

"Why don't you like her, Navi?" He frowned a little, he considered her a new friend, and his best friend didn't seem to approve of her.

"Because, I don't trust her, she likes you." The guardian nodded meekly.

Burying his hands at his sides, Link continued down the path in silence for the next few seconds. Then he finally composed himself and decided to continue upon with his way, nodding silently. For another ten minutes, he walked on, until a large sign, just like the Kakariko, streamed over the top of a new place. Across the top read the words "Kakariko Graveyard." In the front of the new structure, which was paved with stepping stones, was a large stone? This stone had all sorts of text on it he couldn't read, and was old as dirt. Wiping the dust away, he knelt and read it out loud.

_R.I.P. _

_Here lie the souls of those who swore fealty to the Royal Family of Hyrule. _

_The Shiekah, guardians of the Royal Family and founds of the Kakariko, _

_Watch over these spirits in their eternal slumber._

"Shiekah? Isn't that what Impa said she was?" Navi fluttered over to the text and read it silently, before explaining what in the world that was.

"Yea, she did. Wow, so she must have founded this town, or something. At least helped, huh? Navi, what does R.I.P. mean?"

"Rest in Peace, it means happiness for the undead. Anyway, you're probably right about her, Linky, all right let's go on. I'm interested now."

Nodding in approval, Link moved forward and above the large tombstone were smaller ones. He read most of them; some had flowers, some none, and most had wilted flowers. Most of the graves were Hylians, but the older ones were those of the Shiekah. This whole area was full of hundreds of graves, so the place had such a spooky entitlement. He was just about to leave when he looked up and stared into the face of ugly old man. His age was undetermined, but he reminded Link of the character from the Hunchback of Notre' Dame. Letting out a scream of fright, he took off running, but a sweaty hand clasped over his shoulder.

"Hold your horses, young person, I may look ugly, but I am as friendly as can be. Could I interest you in Danpte's Heart-pounding tour? I host it and it only cost ten rubies. I dig up in this graveyard, there are many treasures, and whatever I find is yours. What do you say?" After recovering from his heart attack, the boy nodded in compliment. Navi went inside of his hat, keeping her glow down. The other man was all right, but this man was…she didn't trust him as far as she could throw him. Link pulled out his wallet and put down ten rubies in Danpte's hand.

Danpte was dressed in brown rags, his entire body pale and deformed, from behind his back he took a shovel and pointed down. "You pick a spot and I'll dig." Link walked infront of the Shiekah grave and placed his foot upon the center. "Right here, I like this spot."

Danpte dug for a few minutes, until he found a small fourth of a heart concealed inside of a container. "I don't know what it's worth, but it's yours." He bent down, grabbing the thing and pressing it inside of his hands, that was when Danpte threw the digging tool aside and headed back to his little shack. The shack was only about four feet wide, and six feet high, hidden by the giant fence from before, so Link hadn't noticed it.

Link didn't even notice the man leave; he saw another piece of heart! Squealing with delight, he placed it inside his pocket and searched around the rest of the place with shovels. Link didn't dig up any graves, but he found enough money for his wallet to stock it full of ninety-nine rubies. When he was done, he propped the shovel up against one of the graves, leaning on it. "Hey Navi what should we--whoa!" He screamed as the grave he was leaning on, slid open and he fell through. The grave was deep and deadly, he should have died, but when he landed at the end, he stared around, unharmed. His scars from before didn't ache, neither did any of the other ones, it was like he dropped three feet. Turning around, he saw a small platform with light leading up and looked up at it.

"Navi! Come down, it's clear, it wasn't a grave! It is a hidden passage!" Navi came racing down and stared across the room. Wow, this place was actually nice. The place wet all around, looking like it hadn't been inhabited for about a thousand years, but nevertheless, it was nice. Entirely, the room was made of stone, and not an inch of dirt fell inside. Cobwebs were all around the walls, but most were washed by the leaky interior. Stepping forward, he saw all the room had been stairs leading up to a small chest. _A chest?_ A small one, but a chest!

"Ooh! Navi!" He ran forward, not even bothering to unsheathe his sword and raced up the fifty stairs, to the box that led to the top. It was smaller than the ones he got his Farie Slingshot out of, the map, but this one may have still had some nice stuff in it. Kicking the edge open, he leaned forward and store inside was a large shield.

Inside of the chest, was a Hyrulian Shield, with a long buckled strap along with it? Now, she nodded her head, and actually began to work on fastening it around his body. When she was done Link didn't know how, but the Hyrulian Shield was upon his form, and a strap came across his left shoulder, moving across his right armpit. The strap went fully around his back and held tight in place. How it was presented was that the strap wrapped around the center of the sheath, holding it in place. The Hyrulian shield was hanging off, around his back, stopping directly at where his neck began. Even his cap seemed to fall inside the shield. The Deku shield was, however, clasped in his right hand.

"You'll have to carry it from now on, either that or stick it in your satchel. On the other hand, you could stick it in your side pack, but don't do it, because it will be in your way. Stick it inside of the satchel, and keep it on your hands unless you are using them to move something." On the shield were handles to which it could he held, and also clips where the shield could be held down. This was only on the Hyrulian Shield; the Deku shield had only two handles to hold it with.

This shield resembled nothing of his Deku Shield. This shield, when propped up, reached almost to his waist. A silver rim surrounded the triangular shaped defender, but at the same time, it wasn't a triangle. At the top it was pointed, and the top left and right, but at the center and bottoms it curved inward. This rim of the shield didn't curve in straight, it moved in and out, in different directions.

The shield wasn't all silver, though, because after the rim, the background was painted blue with small silver squiggles at the top of the, not connected to the rim. Right below the squiggles was a large golden Triforce. Under the Triforce was a large eagle, with its wings spread from the rims, this was in the center. Now at the end of the shield, below the eagle, was a single golden triangle. This one was turned upside down, the bottom facing up. Link held the shield up and turned it around, on the inside it was golden with some buckles. Some were to hold the shield to one's back and others were to hold for defense. Link held it out proudly.

"Should I keep these both?" He nodded a little, asking her opinion; sure that he might need both of them for the future.

"Yes…I think you should. Death Mountain is an active volcano or it maybe. I don't really know. How much does it weigh?"

"I would say about seventy pounds, but somehow I can hold it."

"But can you fight with it? Why don't you just keep it on your back, and use your Deku Shield until it wears out? I know you can't hold the shield up and fight, so kneel when you want to dodge with that, all right? Let's try some flips, see if you can handle the weight." Pushing the shield on his back, under the Deku Shield and right below the sheath, so he had easy access to it, Link pulled the sword out and began to practice. It took a few minutes of running around, but he eventually got the hold of it and was able to perform some flips with it. The only problem was the Deku Shield was not in easy access.

"How do I get my shield for easy access?"

"Well, put it in front of the Hylian Shield, or you can just get rid of it. No, that's stupid, I have a solution." She grabbed the Deku Shield and began to circle him all over, making a few adjustments. A few minutes later, he had the shield right infront of his Hylian Shield, it was pinned up, so it had an access he could reach. "There we are."

"Great!" You ready to go home? I think that's all for the graveyard."

"Yea, let's go."

That was the first plan, but when Link stepped into the light, he was transported not out of the grave he got out of, but out at the top of the graveyard. This way he was infront of a new grave, this one much larger than the Shiekah, with two other smaller graves to the side. On the ground, imprinted In the grass was a large Triforce symbol, and this symbol was shaped with the grass. Standing on the Triforce, he read the large text printed in the old language. Some of it he couldn't understand, but he got the familiar feel.

_Here lie the souls, who fought in the War of Wars, _

_We honour thee who gave their lives for the country of Hyrule. _

_Let eternal peace be blessed to Shiekahs, Hylians, Zoras, and Gorons._

Next to the tombstone were a set of graves, he read the right one, ignoring the left one because it said the exact same thing. Each was just a duplicate of the other, which he found was useless going to read them both. Most of it was old and unreadable, but he managed to get most of it through his mind. Yes, it was written in the new language, great because he didn't seem to understand a world of Hylian or Hyrulian. Each was a different language and he had seen some at the castle during his training, not bothering to learn it.

_To the Royal Composer Brothers, there lives for the Royal Family of Hyrule _

_We honour their brave ness and wish them happiness for wherever they maybe; _

_Peace and happiness shall prosper through Hyrule for their sacrifices._

"Who are they, Navi?" He whispered out, sure she probably didn't know, though it never hurt to get more knowledgeable in this area.

"I don't know, I've never heard of them. Hey, remember what Impa said about the Triforce?" He nodded a little bit and she went down into a huge explanation about how it went on.

_--------------------_

_Impa stood over the two of them, her hands upon her broadened, muscular hips. She smiled affectionately and patted Link's head. "Young lad, the next Spiritual Stone is the Spiritual Stone of Fire. It is up in with the Goron's of Death Mountain." _

_"Gorons? What are those?" Link stared up in the distance, staring at Death Mountain, from the castle balcony. _

_"Those are the rock-eaters of Hyrule, Link. You might need to gain their approval, but they are a friendly race, indeed. First you must pass through my hometown, Kakariko. From there you must climb the torturous Death Mountain. It will be hard, but I have faith in you." She nodded a little, a hand going back upon his hand and stroking him ever so softly._

_At this time, Zelda raced up to the trio and puffed out from her breath, the three had been heading outside, after Link viewed the mountain, when Zelda showed up. "W-wait, Link!" _

_Turning around, Link stared at her. "What is it, Zelda." She had something folded in her hands, and placed it on his, clasping them together. _

_"This is my signature and a letter. You see, there's a guard who will not let you in without my permission, so give this to him." She nodded, holding that into her hands that was a letter, a firmly and nicely placed piece of paper._

_"Good idea, Zelda." Impa spoke up, and smiled patting her hair. She had it taken off, bearing the most beautiful golden hair that Link had ever seen. The two were just alike, an almost sibling way, in a sense from their looks, but it wasn't so. Link was a Kokiiri and she was a Hylian. Navi grabbed the letter and stuck it down in his side pack, turning to Zelda and nodding her head. "Thank you, Zelda." _

_She giggled and petted the farie. The little girl had rather enjoyed Navi's company these past few days, because faries were things of the past, but here was one now! "Your welcome, Miss Navi. Okies, I must be going before my father comes looking for me. Now remember, Link, come back to me when you have both the Spiritual Stones. I don't want you to waste a trip unless you can't find the Water." There, she trotted back up the stairs, turning around once with a wink, then she was gone. _

_Impa lead them out of the castle, eluding the guards, and taking a carriage towards the Hyrule Town Market. When they were out of the castle area, she walked them out of the whole market, finally resting when they were outside the castle gates. "Link-kun, take a look." _

_He stared up, in the distance and caught just the peak of Death Mountain. "Link, I want you to remember something. Whenever you see a Triforce embedded upon something, such as a symbol, play the Royal Family song, because those notes hold such special power. Do you understand?" _

_"Yes, Miss Impa." _

_Leaning down, he pulled him up into his arms, hugging him roughly, then she laid out her palm and rested him on it. "You are quite a fine lad, Link, take care of yourself and your partner." _

_"Will do." He felt a little uncomfortable on her hand, but he sat there and listened contently with what she had to day._

_"This is for you." That was the last thing she said and then she didn't talk anymore, though; she clasped him in her arms, once more and kissed his lips. She kissed him long and hard, breaking it after a few seconds and sitting him down upon the ground firmly._

_Link sat there, staring at her, dazed, he seemed a little bit crimsoned in those areas of flush. His cheeks were crimson, his eyes misted with a little bit of excitement, giggling with content. She was a pretty woman, indeed, so that is why her kiss made his eyes illuminate with pleasure. He was about to speak, when she backed away a few feet, and threw something out. The land seemed to explode, when light filled his eyes. Putting his hands over his eyes, he looked up as the smoke cleared and she was gone. _

_"Navi, where did she?" But Navi was inside his hat, a little streamed off. _

_--------------------_

"I remember the kiss." He giggled and pulled out his Farie Ocarina, but before he could blow a tune Navi smacked him on the side of the head. Rubbing it, he grinned and played the Royal Family Tune. As soon as the tune ended, the sky seemed to darken. The entire place was getting darker and darker, so Link backed up a few feet with light began to glow around the tomb. A few seconds later, he was thrown across one of the many gates, which surrounded the graveyard. He was thrown back when the lightning, from the sky, struck the tombstone and sent pieces flying everywhere. If he had been near it, the rocks would have crushed him, and now lying on his back, the boy thanked the Goddesses.

"L-Link are you okay!" Navi was by his side, checking him for any new scratches, but besides the scratches from the fall, he was all right. Breathing a sigh of relief, she flew near the hole and called out. "Another hole, another secret passage!"

"Really!" Jumping up, he jumped the gate, and rushed near the hole. Where the huge, two-ton tomb stood, was a hole about five feet around that lead into darkness. "Should I jump?"

"Yea, just land on your hard shield. Link, that is a knight shield, I saw some of the knights wearing them. That shield can withstand anything."

Without hesitation, he pulled the Deku shield off and jumped in the hole, bottom first. He should have landed on his behind, but again, he landed on his feet with a quick snap. There behind him, was another one of those transporters. "This must be the old magic of the world?"

"Yea, like in the legends. Let me go check." She went forward into the darkness, and a few minutes she returned with her veil turning a complete white. Taking the veil off, she sat her small body on his shoulder, covering herself up. "Link, I think you'd better take your sword and shield out."

"Why?"

"T-there are bones in there, they look old, but there has to be something in there. I didn't see anything out their, but two unlit torches, and a room door that was barred. Let's go back."

"Navi, if it's barred, then we need to go see what's out there!" He started forward, Navi pulled at his shoulder a few times, but she pushed her fingers aside and continued forward. The area was just like the last, made of stone and having carving all around the walls and floors. The only difference was on the left and right sides of the place were, in fact, bones. He couldn't tell if they were human or animal, because he saw no skulls, but they scared him half to death. He did, this time, pulled out his sword, and since his shield was already out…he placed them readily in his hands.

Navi went ahead and rechecked the area, didn't see anything and flew back, with her veil on. It was just too damp in here for her, but what about him. "Link, if you stay in your skirt-tunic any longer, your going to catch a cold."

"Can't help it, Navi. I've always dressed like this."

"And been in a subtropical environment."

"Well, maybe I'll try to find something to put under it one day, but for now I love this Kokiirish clothes, they give me a certain feel. I like for people to know I'm from the forest." They had been walking and talking at the same time, so now they were near the center of the tomb. Yes, tomb was the only word to describe this place. The other one was maybe a crypt, but this was a tomb. They both moved to the center, and he could see that they were about twenty-five yards to the entrance. "How do we open it?"

"I wouldn't even begin to guess, unless we were to make some fire?"

"It's too damp down here, Navi." He walked the entire distance forward, and was about the climb the stairs when Navi, who had stayed in the middle, yelled out. "Link! Duck!"

Link hit the ground and as he did, three giant thumps slammed into his Hylian Shield. His hands raised upon in the air and that was where he readied himself to block against the currents. This thing was coming towards him, and he would do whatever he would to take care of this problem. Jumping up, his Deku Shield raised up, he saw three bats flying towards him. He'd read about them before, they usually stayed in the caves and wet places like this.

"Bats?"

"No, worse than that, they are Keese! Luckily they aren't ignited…" She whispered that part, but he caught it. _Ignited? What is she talking about?_ Before he could comply, he saw two of them head for him. Flipping backwards, he slammed his blade through the neck of the other one and smashed the shield into the second one. They may have been stealthy, when hiding, but they were quite weak. Over the next two minutes, he stood forward, taking out his sling and putting his sword and shield back. Navi was at his side, and soon turned towards a shadow and shone yellow. "Another one!"

Pulling a Deku Seed back, he slipped it into the notch and fired into the sleeping Keese. The thing screeched, a dying scream, before it plummeted to its death, a lively, but also boring dead. It was a good thing that he had begun to practice with this; otherwise he would have been in a bit of trouble. The practice with this was really showing when he locked that stupid little thing out as quickly as possible. The seed was just that strong inside the sling, that it had pushed into the thing's throat and ripped it out.

"Was that one asleep?"

"Yea, Link."

"But I heard--Navi!" He leapt into the air, reaching for the sword, but pulled out a Deku Stick. No time to threat, he slammed the butt of the stick on the skull of the last Keese. It seems the thing had gone after Navi, that was, until Link bashed the brains out. The Deku Stick broke, it wasn't made for combat, but it sure did the job for him. Pushing the shattered remains of the branch away, he gathered Navi in his hands and checked her over.

Navi let herself being checked, taking the veil off, and giggled whenever she was kissed. She usually did that, takes the veil off whenever it got too hot slept at night, alone with Link, or was kissed. When he kissed the veil, it tasted weird, and felt no affection at all. It was different with her, though, he felt much emotion. Right when he was about to speak a small snap cleared the air and the bars of the door raised up. Turning around, her raised in his palms, he saw it and squealed with joy. "It was a puzzle."

"What do you mean?"

"It was a puzzle, Navi… You see? Whenever the enemies died, there is was a triggering switch, or something, that activated the door." Not random events sort of puzzle, but if you were to take out the life forms then the door opened it up for you.

"Wow, Link, that is very perspective." Now hanging upon his neck, her arms around his face, and pressing her face to his left cheek. Link pulled his sword and shield back out, keeping them handy as he climbed the stairs up to new room. The bars were gone, but the door was still solid and couldn't be lifted. Kicking the door, it creaked and slid open at a stop. Another reason to look forward, this room was filled with complete darkness.

_--------------------_

"What's that smell?" Something was very disgusting about this next room. The next path was a bit stonier than the last, but it had the same feel too it. The only difference between the two was that this new room had sections of it cut off and in those crests were some green liquid bubbling about.

"It must be that, Link." Rising out of most of the pools, formed in pillar-structures, was gaseous forms. She pointed to the gaseous layers. The form entered Link's nostrils, and he broke out in a gag. Navi went right to his face and stuck his nose in the barrier, by sitting on his nose. Instantly, he was feeling with relief of the pressure.

"Thanks, Navi…" The room wasn't very big, a littler bigger than the rest by twenty-five yards. Small little lumps were piled around the rooms, they didn't look very dangerous, and so he sheathed up his sword, and kept the shield incase any more Keese showed up.

About half way away from the first lump, his body froze. Link didn't know what to do, he couldn't move his arms, nor could he perform even a blink. Whimpering, his tongue the only thing that could move, cried out in a screaming voice that he was paralyzed. That's when he saw it, the lump curled up and looked at him. This thing made Danpte look like a Raphael angel.

This hideous creature revealed it hadn't eaten in weeks, or even months. It's skin was a dark gray and stretched across its body, like a tight suit. Its ribs, veins, and everything else slithered and wretched out of the body, giving Link a full view. Claws for hands, and its feet were already decaying, the monster was sexless, but from its structure, it looked male. But across its face was the worst, because across it's face was a brown mask, the mask made of a brown wood. Holes, where the eyes went, and a grinning mouth shone out from the beast. This monster was deadly, he didn't know what it was, but it was deadly.

"Navi, what is that!"

"Let me think…A Redead! Link that is a Redead! It's the body of a dead soldier infected with evil chi! Run, don't let it look you in the eyes." Navi flew up to the tyrant's eyes and flashed a full white. That made the thing cry out and cover its eyes, and since its eyes were off of Link, he could run.

_Run?_ Run was an understatement. What the hero did was dash for his life. First, he ran to her grabbed her, and ran across the left side of the room, because there were no cuts into the green liquid, which he was convinced, was toxic. There he dodged three of the Redeads; they were well over seven feet tall and hard to reach him. One actually jumped on his back, with its arms and legs wrapped around him, but Navi blasted it with some of the newfound powers she had been acquired in him.

At last the new path opened, this time the sword inside his hands, when he dashed in and slammed the door shut. Wow, the new room had a large runic wall; this was different, because he knew not a word of runic. It was a very strange language, and even so, he didn't know the Hylian runics, or the Kokiiri. So even if he had studied, he wouldn't make out many, except a few that had been translated into the common language or something. Upon the wall was a bunch of unread text, but a simple message and chords from a song he could read. This is what it read.

_This poem is dedicated to _

_The memory of the dearly departed; the Sun's Song. _

_Members of the Royal Family of Hyrule, scripted by Royal Composer Brothers. _

"Those guys from the grave!" Link took out that piece of paper, with three other songs on it, and wrote down the script of the song. It was a very bright, dancing tune, or so it seemed on paper. I mean, he couldn't tell that until he played the Ocarina, so out that small playing machine went to compose this song. Link stared up at the notes, stuffing the instrument inside of his pocket and blew the notes out, but the strongest thing was nothing happened.

"Navi, usually a tune happens. Or something happens."

"I don't know Li--" A crash fell and the door exploded with a moaning rush. Out came all the Redeads from the room before, he hadn't noticed this many, there were fifteen of them! Navi squealed and hid behind his back, praying in her own tune to the Goddesses. Nothing could save them, anything!

"I wonder…if we play these tunes, they are dead. This is the Sun's Song. Worth a try, I mean, I can't kill fifteen of those things at one time." Propping the Ocarina in his lips, he blew out the Sun's Song. Hrm, staring around, the moaning had stopped and all the Redeads looked at him with a paralyzing face on them. "Navi, they froze!"

Navi peered up and burst into laughter, she fluttered up to his face and pecked his cheek, grabbing his Ocarina and holding it into the air. "This magical thing saved us! Yes!" She placed it inside of his satchel and stared forward at them, the bandages were coming unloosened. They had been wrapped in bandages when the song they heard, but they were unraveling. "Linky-chan! Run, they are unfreezing--whoa!"

He was way ahead of her; he had noticed the wraps and packed his shield into his satchel while she was praising around. Then, yanking her forward with himself, he dashes passed the group of more than a dozen as they came to life. One actually caught him, but a quick hilt of his boot sent the monster back into a shallow grave of the earth. The old room was empty; all of them must have really been trying to open that door. _Good, no more disturbances._ Pushing forward, in an open sprint, he crossed the entire room in less than ten seconds and burst through the old Kesse door. Nothing there so the room with so many yards, from before, was now empty. So now he busted through that room and was up into the silver light within a matter of seconds.

This time, the light transported him back to one of the old graves. Impudent, he walked to the center of the room, which happened to be the room the shield room and played the Song of Suns. The room changed, and a clear hole blasted through the roof of the floor. Also, some sort of ladder slid down. Taking this chance, he climbed up the ladder that was dropped, and when he came out he was back in the graveyard. At his side was another piece of heart, wow that made three fourths of it. One more piece and we get stronger! He still had Navi in his pocket, so as he walked back to the graveyard, he opened his hands and spoke. "How long were we there?"

"Three hours at the...most? It's the evening, but how!" The sun was lowering when they had come out of the tunnel.

"Maybe the Sun's song is actually warping time? I played it twice, so the first time maybe it became morning, and now it warped back to night?"

"So you are telling us we wasted an entire day."

"Pretty much." He was halfway back to the Kakariko Village, he had been jogging and now it was just darkening. When the two reached the inside of the village, they saw a small light on in a tiny house out to the west. "Must be Anjou-san."

"Are you as tired as I am? Did that song drain a whole day out of us?" She yawned and slowly, but surely, patted down inside of his hat. Even if he spoke, she wouldn't be able to hear. She was in her own dreaming land, and she was queen there, but he was her king.

Walking across the village, he followed the light and knocked on the side of the door. It felt solid, but also there was a bit of hollowness inside of it; he knew deep in his mind that she wasn't there. Nope, she was not there, and probably wouldn't be for quite some time, that was for sure. Judging from the moonlight, it was only about seven o'clock, enough time to eat and get to bed. _No answer at all_. Nodding against the door, he began to pound on the door and call out her name, wanting her here.

"Miss Anjou…Miss Anjou…" Too late, gonna faint, and there he slumped against the ground and fell into a small curl.

_--------------------_

When Anjou opened the door, she couldn't help but stare down at the boy with awe. He's so cute… Scooping the young child into her arms, she walked inside of her small house and put him right to bed. The whole house wasn't much of a house, it was about the same place as Link's, except a little larger for her. The kitchen positioned to the right of the room, the bathroom situated with a shower in the left corner. In the center was a small seating area where when she had guest over, which was never, she would have seated them there. Finally, where he was now, was her bedroom. A large bed was there, enough to suit two, with a small chest full of clothes. Anjou sat him down, covering him up.

_He's so dirty._ She pulled off his cap, and saw the small twinkle was here. Pulling the farie up, she moved her to the small couch and covered her up with a blanket--actually it was a towel and a small couch pillow, but you get the idea. When Navi was down, he walked over to Link and removed his armour. Wow, a Hylian Shield, how could he carry that! She had to throw the thing across the room, using every ounce of strength to move it. The thing must have weighed a hundred pounds! Next came out the lighter, twenty-pound bag across his back, and the heavier one across his waist. There she unhooked the sheath, sword, and pulled all that sweaty armour off.

_There, now let's clean him up._ When she actually touched the boy, was when she noticed his soft he was. There wasn't an ounce of muscle on his skin; it was smooth as a baby. She guessed he was about nine or ten, but was he really from the Kokiiri Forest?

_That sparkle isn't a candle, Anjou_. Her father spoke in her mind. Anjou got her sense of determination and sense of knowing if something was real, until she had evidence. She did not believe these people who drilled holes in their heads to let the 'evil spirits' out. That was nonsense!

The woman, she was about twenty-five, didn't bother to go through his satchel, but instead pulled out some of her clothes as a teenager. This shirt would fit the boy not perfectly, but came down to his knees. At least he couldn't slip upon them; she was a lot shorter then she was now. Looking at his full body, she just had to ponder. Why is he wearing a skirt? Link-kun isn't a girl, at least she thought so, but tonight she would be sure. She did have to bathe him, after all. Looking up the skirt, too see if her wore anything under, she saw a small pair of shorts and nodded to herself. Quite embarrassing if he tripped over a rock or something in the middle of town. Ha! Now, the woman couldn't help blush and hid her face deep into the covers, right by his head.

"You are quite queer, young boy. What are you exactly? You look just like a Hylian child, but carrying that shield, I am sure you aren't…hmm." Walking to the left side of the room, opening a small door, and leaving it ajar she began to draw his bath water.

_--------------------_

It actually took longer to draw the bath than she thought she had to go fetch some water from the newly refilled well. Yes, the Kakariko had been in the drought season for a few months, but now Hyrule Castle was sending water, and milk, for that matter, to the Kakarikoians. Weren't they so glad they had opened up their lands to us Hyrulians? Pulling off his hard boots then the socks. Anjou removed the tunic top first, running her fingers across his chest and resting her head against his chest, listening to his heartbeat. He looked like an adventurer, but what she saw made her gasp. A huge scar was placed upon his chest! It was healed, but she scar was there. He must be an adventurer.

Then she took came the tunic skirt, they were actually buckled from before, but she undid that in a matter of seconds. He didn't smell too bad. It was obvious he hadn't had a bath since he had come to Kakariko, so he just needed a good scrubbing. Pulling him, still in the small undergarment-shorts, Anjou headed to the fresh warm water and slipped him in. She did, of course, strip his shorts off and slide him in the water. When he was in, comfortably, she gathered up his clothes and stuck them near the wash. She'd fix the tear on his hem later, but now she needed to wash him.

Maneuvering back to the room, with a towel and a washcloth, she shut the door and knelt beside the unconscious boy. Should she have awakened him? No, he is a maturing young boy, not that mature, but be rest assured he would have blushed and looked away from her the whole time he was here. The final decision was this: not to wake him up. For the next the twenty minutes, the young woman bathed him all over.

First the started with his face and the upper neck region, then she moved down to his chest and arms now. That was when she moved down past his waist and to his feet and legs, scrubbing them hardly, and then going to his back and flipping him over washing his back, behind, and thighs. His entire body was so soft that he felt just like an infant, even though he was aged more about ten years. It really didn't matter what he felt like, even if he was rough, she continued to wash him all over. Anjou slipped him back on his rump and slipped a hand down there, scrubbing under the water.

During the twenty minutes, Link moaned when he was flipped, and then called out various names. The most repetitive one was some one named 'Saria' and his farie 'Navi'. She knew who Navi was, of course, she had heard Link talking to him the day before. A few minutes into the bath, his eyes opened and he stared her deep into the eyes. A very embarrassing situation, except he had smiled and slipped deep into his slumber. He's probably a heavy sleeper. After he washed everywhere, she went down and washed down there. That was when he woke up and stared at her.

_--------------------_

Oh, his dreams were so sweet. In them he was dreaming of Saria, they were kissing again. Hee, but the dream flashed forward and he was inside of a large bowl of water. Looking up, he stared into the glaring eyes of a Gohma with a spoon in her hands. Something was creeping up his shoulder and washing him all over. Not being able to see what it was, he stared at Gohma as her tongue came out and ran upon his skin.

Piles of goose flesh appeared all over his body. When he was able to stare up, he stared into the eyes of a man. No! His worst dreams had come true. Above him, It was the man from the room. It was Ganondorf! He had a giant spoon in his hands and was chuckling evilly. Springing out of sleep, he stared down at Anjou washing his body.

_--------------------_

Anjou stared down at the ground, and was still washing at his area when a voice spoke up. "Miss A-Anjou!" Link was staring down at her, widened eyes, and his face was turning a deep crimson. "Anjou-san, what are you doing?" He nearly squealed with a whimper and peered at her sharply.

"L-Link, I was just washing you. I thought you would be out for at least a day or so, so I decided to wash you. You do smell--" A pounding came at the door and suddenly a loud voice boomed in. The voice wasn't a man's, it was a pissed off little farie.

"OPEN THIS DOOR, ANJU!" Before Anjou could comply, the door turned and Navi burs in the room, looking at Anju with her rag still down there and Link looking scared.

"What did you do to Linky!" Nearly soaring towards Link, she sat up his newly washed hair, and stood up staring up at Anjou. "What did you do! Were you touching him!"

Anjou's eyes widened when she heard what Navi said. "Navi-san! You know me better than…" Cut off, by herself, she realized that Navi didn't know her, and she didn't know Navi. Staring down, pulling her hands out and shuttling them, she spoke. "Link-kun, I didn't do anything, I was…bathing you, you were smelly, so I wanted to give you a bath."

Navi stared at her, eyes glaring with hatred and flew down to Link's face, staring at him as hard as she could. "Linky, do you feel different, did she rub you or touch you in any way?"

Link rolled his eyes. "Of course she did, Navi, she was bathing me. You have to touch to bathe. Hee! Don't worry, Miss Anjou, I believe you. I don't know what Navi is speaking of, but you didn't do it." He slowly grabbed the towel and slid out of the water, walking into the living room to dry him off.

Anjou looked up at Navi, who had stayed behind and frowned. "I didn't do anything, Navi, believe me. I was going to give you a bath too. He was just so cute looking, and when I took a scent of him, I had to bathe him."

"…I know, I just got mad. He is cute, isn't he?" Navi flushed under the veil, showing a deep crimson through the center, and fluttered right infront of Link.

"Yes, he is adorable. His flesh is so soft, but come on, I have some clothes for him." Yea, she had some just for him and they were a bit big, though more than enough to comfort him.

"Okay, Miss Anjou, I am sorry."

"It's alright, Miss Navi." With that the argument was forgotten and the two headed into the main room to dress Link.

_--------------------_

"No." Link looked at Anjou and Navi and shook his head a little bit, nodding somewhat she he could. "I can dress myself."

"Come on, Link. Let me dress you, please? You can slip the shorts on, I just like the way you skin feels." Anjou pounced at him, gathering him inside of her arms and began to tickle him profusely.

Link, in turn, burst in a stream of giggles and pawed away from Anjou, as quickly as he could. He had told them sternly that they were to go away while he was dressing and at once they left. He just felt weird being naked around girls, even Saria at this stage in his life, and then he changed. While they were gone, he had slipped on his boxers and was looking for his tunic, when they came in. The place was very small, reminding him of his own room, but why did they want to dress him up? What was this?

"Linky… Come on, we just want to pretty you up." Navi spoke this as the two of them came back a few minutes later; they were holding different things such as clothes and makeup.

"Pretty me up? Navi what are you talking about?" Link frowned just a little bit and looked upon the two of them, sighing a little and looking even more confused about this.

Anjou intercepted the conversation. "We want to see what you will look like with a dress and such on. You are such a pretty-looking boy, we want to dress you up like a little girl." There was no real expensive or beautiful looking makeup back then, and since Anjou didn't wear it, there was no need to use it. Or no desire to do it at all. Link frowned towards Navi and finally agreed.

Begging was something the two were great at, the two of them begged and begged him to do it. At first he didn't budge, but eventually he just threw his hands up in the air ad nodded a little. He really didn't care after about two hours of begging and just shrugged his shoulders, letting them do their worst. That night, he was prettied up and dressed like a little girl, as best as he could be with the makeup. The embarrassed Link took it all with full force, and at about ten-thirty that night, he went to sleep in a dress.

_--------------------_

The following morning, Link and Navi set off for Death Mountain, the fiery home of the Gorons. The two ate breakfast with Anjou, and Link was dressed up in a tunic that was sown up. Looking up towards the woman, he gave Anjou a huge hug and ran off towards Death Mountain. There Anjou stared at the strange boy as he headed up the miles to the mountain top. He might have some trouble with the guards, but if he did, then Anjou would make sure that the boy was put up to that place.

His pace was kept at a slight small walk, and there he headed for where the gate stood, or so Zelda had explained. Moving north of the town, they climbed a little section of the mountain and by eight-thirty reached a huge gate that enclosed the entire region of Death Mountain. The gate was long, steel and fifteen feet tall, covering against walls so no one could get out, and not a being could anyone enter. Link was walking to the gate, examining it from right to left, when a voice sprang out of no where. It was a deep and menacing voice, there seemed to be no friendliness to this male voice. "Halt! Who goes there!"

A tall man, well large compared to Link, was sitting along the right-hand side of the mountain with his arms folded around his chest. The man was dressed just like the guards at the palace: ugly small clothes, no real leg armour, and a helmet that hid his face to the world. A large spear was withheld inside of his hand, which he had pointed at the young boy. "Where do you think you're going, you little ass, I think you had best step back from me, before I decide to get angry!" This man was not one to tempt with, especially with the weapon that was bound between his pulsing fists.

Navi just stared at the encounter, and surrounded the man's face, yelling out to him. "Hey! Leave him alone, this boy is on orders from Princess Zelda!"

"Zelda-! What the hell is this thing talking about." Trying to swat at her, but profusely missing, he still not seeing it was some sort of fairie, or simply not believing it. "Give me some proof, you little punk."

"She must have been speaking of him Navi--"

"Shut up and show proof!" The guard sputtered out, the spear pointed right at Link's chest, the young boy grunting uncomfortably.

Nodding, Link pulled out the large letter and handed it to the guard, smiling as the man read. He was sure the man's face seemed to turn from anger and spite to a bit of fascination. As the man read, he knew he would be granted his way forward and there he could prove he was a hero once and for all. What it read was this: This young boy's name is Link, and he is on his way to save Hyrule, I want you to please let him pass onto Death Mountain. It was signed Zelda, and a small insignia of the Triforce was right below her name, an un-counterfeit mark. That basically meant that no one could break this little thing, or that it could be duplicated.

"This is definitely Princess Zelda's handwriting, but what is out princess up too!" He burst into guffaws of laughter. This laughter went on for about five minutes, which Link stared at the man rudely, but when it was done the guard handed the letter back and clapped his hands. "Alright, Alright, Mr. Hero! I'll let you pass, but it's a good thing you have one of those Hylian Shields. Death Mountain is an active Volcano, you know. Usually you need the King's permission, but I guess our little Zelda's is just as preferred. I'd kill you if this was forged, you know."

"Yes sir." That was when he looked up at the gate, growling and slammed his spear into the ground. A clinking sound surrounded the atmosphere and the gates slid back into from hence they came: the mountain. Link stared at it, gape-eyed with amazement, as the guard broke out into laughter.

"Alright, Mr. Hero. I hope you have a fun time on Death Mountain." Breaking into another barrel of laughs, he had the nerve to ask if Link would get him a mask for his 'son.' Link was considering it when Navi shook her head, pointing at the veil and twirling her finger. Giggling, he walked away, but the man was still laughing when Link walked away with his hands stuffed in his pockets, boiling with anger.


	6. Chapter V Mountain of Fire

-1

Chapter V: A Mountain of Fire

Copyright: I do not own Zelda, Nintendo does. Story by Habuki productions.

_"_Death Mountain was a lot larger than that it looked. For the next three days, the couple spent the entire days climbing the mountains, but by the second day, they decided it was best to climb at night. There were no Stalchildren on Death Mountain, he heard the rutting of Skulltula in the walls, but never saw them. There was a new type of enemy on the mountain and, they were called Tektites. These monsters, which looked more like spiders than the Gohma spawn, only had four legs and a small torso. These monsters were red, with large eye in the middle, but the funny thing was they were easy. Link could dispatch three of them with the basic spin of his sword and block of the Deku Shield.

Traveling at night was more preferred, because of the hot sun on Death Mountain, was it called Death Mountain called that for the sun and the mountain was active? Probably so, it seemed, because after the first day he almost died of dehydration. This mountain was dangerous place. So, he would sleep in his shade, under the Hylian Shield, and travel at night. Instead of stopping in the morning, he traveled until it was well into the noon.

No time during his trip was there a 'volcano explosion', but Navi did explain what they were talking about. This mountain spilt out fire and ashes, it seemed, that would consume whatever was in it's path, but she said that the stuff happened up at the top of Death Mountain and Goron City was at the center of the mountain. While he was traveling, about the first day and a half, he ran into a large cave that was blocked by a huge boulder. A small sign was labeled Dodongo's Cavern. He didn't know what a Dodongo, but they must have been quite the secretive people, because they didn't want anyone inside.

Another strange thing happened to Link, he ran into a crossroads, and I mean literally. The duo ran into a small piece of wood stuck in the ground with a red flag hanging from the top of the flag. Him and Navi flipped a coin and went up towards the top. That was a mistake! The way up lead towards a huge set of boulders that they couldn't pass without some severe explosives. Maybe they have bombs for this bag! So, a half a day was spent traveling back down the mountain and going south of the flag. That led right to the city, it seemed they were right under it!

Link and his companion reached Goron City the third night on the mountain, coming close to the fourth, it was about eleven o'clock when he saw the inner gates. They weren't really gates, but a large arena slightly carved different from the rest of the mountain. It pointed out towards a large squarest structure that had a huge block in the center aligning rocks in a circle. Link kicked the rocks aside, to find some of those pretty hear containers and drank a few. The strength returned to his body, and he and Navi drank two apiece.

"Navi, is that is?" He pointed north where there was a medium sized door that lead inside of the rocks.

"I think so, Linky. Now be warned, this race looks a lot different from the Hyrulians, Kokiiri, and the Faries. They don't have pointy ears, like us, or the same colour of skin. We might find them repulsive, but don't show your disgust. We need their cooperation to get the Spiritual Stone of Fire, and knowing Daruina he won't give it up."

"Daruina? Who is that?"

"The Great Deku Tree told me about him once. He is the Great leader of the Gorons and as stubborn as a mule. He doesn't listen to other people, but he isn't a bad guy. Some where in the Lost Woods is a path towards here and there, so he likes the music of the Lost Woods, but he's never been here.

"Wow, alright. Are you ready?" It had been eight days since they left the Lost Woods, leaving Saria, and it had been twenty-three days since he had begun to journey. Wow, almost a month! Three weeks and two days! This was incredible, because it never felt like it. It was quite an astronomical feeling he felt. This journey was quite into it, he believes, and so he jumped off the rock and ran forward to the City of the Gorons.

_--------------------_

Why was it everywhere he went, the places seemed to get bigger and bigger? An asterisk of confusion swelled over his mind as he stared in the city. This was definitely why they called this a city, and Kakariko a village. This place was very lively, but not as much as the other town he had been too, though more than his hometown. Of course not, his village was so small that the only smaller place was the Lon Lon Ranch and that wasn't even a town. Link guessed they could just about fit twenty Kakariko's into this one Goron City. Probably every Goron lived her, he assumed, since he had never seen a Goron.

"This place is huge…" Navi spoke, reading Link's mind, and fluttered around the area in utter amazement. They entered from the top of six-layer city. This wasn't like a normal city, because there were no houses, there just was this huge…sanctuary was the only word! The first level was full of dirt clogged paths, the entire room was in a sort of oval shape, not really a circular, but it would be considered that. Different holes covered the area around the top level, and in those holes were endless paths of stairs. Large rocks covered one place when he turned right in, but something else caught his eye.

In the middle of the entire region, four ropes sprung out in the cardinal directions, and a small platform was suspended in the air from there. "Navi?"

"The Spiritual Stone maybe there, come on Link."

"N-Navi…that is a long way down. And I don't see no Cuccos." It was strange, he had come accustomed since he had spent some of his time with Malon and Epona.

Blowing out a long sigh of frustration, she took off her veil and latched onto his clothes. "Hold on, and don't scream."

"Navi what are you--" Link cried out in a gasp as he was lifted into the air and was levitating. Levitating! No, he was being pulled across the structure, through the air and to the center, by the one and only Navi. Holding his hands to his side, he prayed the Goddesses until his fit hit the five by five hexagonal shaped platform. In the middle was a stone with a small inscription.

_The Spiritual Stone of Fire Lies here; _

_Separated by the Goddesses, and praised _

_For the Goddess of Flames, Din. _

_No one shall ever touch thee stone._

There was also something else he didn't notice, that surprised him. A large lump, which he thought to be a rock, propped up and stared at him with those beady little eyes. "Who are you?" It croaked.

Leaping back, barely catching his balance on the edge of the rocks, he stared at the being. It was obviously larger than he was, about seven feet this one was, but it was covered so strangely. A tannic colour, it was, with bumps of rock that ran along it skin in a structural way. A huge potbelly ran along its stomach. It was seen clearly that this fiend or friend was not that weak. Deep muscles ran along his chest, arms, and legs, with those veins bustling out. This one had a small amount of hair on its cone-shaped head, and some under it's lips. A pair of fish lips smiled out, those huge stained midnight black eyes staring at him. No pupils at all were on its face. Link let out a horrified gasp, and reached for his sword.

"Wait! Wait young Hylian! I am not a fiend!" He sat up; Link's guess about his height was quite accurate, and slowly wobbled over to the boy on its uneven feet. Huge bear-like paws were on its hands and feet, and upon its left arm was a small triangle with three triangles sprucing out in three single directions. Two holes were pressed into its skull, no nose, just blowholes, and the monster's hands went to his shoulder. "Wait, don't draw your sword, young Hylian. Just who are you?"

"…I'm not a Hylian, I am a Kokiiri, from the forest. What am I doing here? I am on a quest. Are you a Goron?" It sure was a strange-looking creature, but not very intimidating with that pot-belly upon it.

"A Kokiiri. So odd to see one out of the forest, I've never laid eyes on one." He chuckled and sat back on the ground, staring up at the boy. It was obvious he was male, his voice deep and charging. "Yes, I am a Goron. Now, young Kokiiri, what are you doing up on Death Mountain."

"I'm--uh--looking for the Spiritual Stone of Fire." He nodded his head a little, and looked down nervously, hoping that the man knew about it.

"Oh, the big, juicy stone? That red stone used to be out here, but Aniki took it away. I was so hungry, I just came out here for a little bite."

"Hungry, do you want some food? I have some bread and fruit." He smiled and flashed his pack towards the weird-looking man, knowing he wasn't exactly going to eat the Spiritual Stone of Fire.

The Goron made a gagging sound and stared at Link, bewildered a little bit at how the boy could eat that. "I don't see how you Hyrulian children do it."

"I'm not a Hyrulian--" He was about to finish out and claim he was a Kokiiri, when the Goron interrupted him and he just frowned a little bit.

"Yes, you are. I mean, you are the children of Farore-sama. We are from Din-sama, which means we live on the red earth." Of course from what the creature said, that did seem to make sense, the two were form the earth. Hyrulian, Hylian, and the Kokiiri were all from the ground, while the Gorons were around the fire or the mountain.

"Oh!" Link giggled, and nodded his head clearly, the boys thoughts thinking that maybe the Zoras were Naryu's? "So, who is Aniki?"

"Aniki means 'Big Brother.' It is the head boss of us Gorons, Daruina." That was what they called their boss, he assumed, because the text seemed of another language, the Goron most likely.

"Oh, the head boss, like the Zelda's father and the Great Deku Tree" He nodded, it seemed that each place had a ruler in it, so Daruina seemed to own the Gorons. He wondered what owned the Zoras, but pushed it aside, he would worry about that later on.

"You've met the Princess?" The Goron stared at the young boy; eyes were wide with such a small little passion, in unbelieving eyes. "Wow, I can't believe it."

The boy nodded and told him about his encounter with the Princess, then he told him about the Great Deku Tree, but that was when another question popped up, this time from Navi. "So, why are you hungry?"

The Goron stared at the young farie and sighed deeply, his tone had come from excited to just plain saddened. "Did you two see a large cavern down at the center of the beginning of the mountain?"

"Yea, Dodongo's Cavern. We read the sign." The cave was weird, the word Dodongo had also appeared upon the bag, another arising question. Just what exactly were those things, he pondered and there he awaited what would happen next.

"Well, our food supply was in there, but ever since that man showed up--" The Goron was interrupted by a wild-eyed Link, his voice was even fiercer than before, he seemed frightened..

"A man! Was he wearing black armour and have evil eyes!"

"Yes, he did. He came here about two weeks ago and asked Aniki for the special stone. Aniki denied and then that man shut up the cavern. We have tried to live off of our current rocks, but it is useless. We tried to remove the rock, and it was gone for twenty-four hours, but the people who went into there died." He frowned somewhat and nodded, that man had to have been the cause of all of these problems, or that's what Aniki had said.

"D-died? How!" Navi spoke this and she seemed just as sad as Link had, the two of them watching this Goron. It was so strange how death had come upon them so quick, and now it had spread like wildfire. They guessed that the cause of these unfortunate deaths had to deal with the man in the black armour. The auburn-haired man with the balding skin, the skin that was so dark that it was almost green. A strange coincidence, he knew that this man just had to be stopped before it went out of control.

"Well, the Dodongo are supposed to be extinct. They died out a long time ago, but after the man left, they started to repopulate the area and ate our fellow Gorons." So, the rocks were inside of this cavern, he guessed, and now that Ganondorf had seen that, he wanted to starve them.

"So, you eat rocks?" It was strange, Saria had told him, but still, he just couldn't imagine a person chopping into a rock. How did they do it, and he noticed that their teeth might have been sharp enough to crack them, maybe rocks had special liquids inside of them.

"Yep, that's about it. We eat rocks and that's it, the rocks are so sweet inside of the cave of Dodongos, and we are running out of these spares."

"Wow, could you take me to Daruina?" Nodding, it seemed like a long way down and just where in world was this man, this boss of the Gorons.

"Sure, normally it would take you about three hours to get down here, but I have a short cut." At this time, he curled up into a ball and laid down on his back, so they were pressed into the earth. "Climb onto my stomach and hang on." Link complied and put Navi under his hat, then he climbed on the Goron's stomach and smiled a little. What was he doing, was he going to jump…off? Hearing the rev of the rock-eater grunting, he tried to protest.

"Mr. Goron! Don't do what I think you are doing!" Crying out, he hung onto the Goron, burying his face into the rock-eater's face as they sailed off the mountain.

Each thing layer was about a story long, so they sailed past the layers in a matter of seconds. It was so strange as he went past, he felt the air whisping and his own ears beginning to pop harshly. Link thought he was going to have a heart attack, and he yanked Navi out, kissing her face and crying out. Yet, he held onto the Goron, hoping the impact wouldn't kill them, hoping the Goron hadn't out-shot himself. This Goron had strong skin, he probably didn't know much about the Farore-children, or their cousins the Kokiiri.

_No, he does know. He knew that you were from there. Us Kokiiri may have been isolated, but it seems the other races weren't. _The weird voice had returned itself back and he frowned, listening to it through the popping of his ears.

_Why did the Great Deku Tree do that?_ Had the tree been so afraid of the world, which the children were unable to communicate with them. He was so scared of this world, but he hadn't died, so it was not that the Kokiiri would die, it had to be something else.

_How should I know! I was separated along with you, but the Hyrulians and Gorons know each other. Plus, Impa is a Shiekah, and Ganondorf is a Gerudo. All these races know about one another except us._ This weird voice acted as though it wasn't him, it was very strange how the voice spoke to him.

It was like time slowed down, that entire region around them was slowing down in time. What happened he couldn't guess, it was some sort of phenomenon, or his conscious thought time was down. They impacted into the ground and the Goron held onto the boy until the entire region stopped and a small hole was formed in the center of the earth. Link stared up, jumped up really, and screamed in joy, surprise forming as he glanced upward.. They were at the bottom layer! He stared up at the aerial platform that seemed hundreds of miles away, glad that they just saved a whole bunch of time.

"Navi, we did it! Thank you Mr. Goron…?" He saw the Goron was rolling away, in a ball, but a hand popped up and waved, and then the Goron was back inside a small hole and up the stairs.

He also noticed something else about this room, and the others, from looking up. There were paintings of the Gorons, and these were as large as most of the fifteen feet walls, all around the place. Something else was strange; he caught the sound of music. Almost the sound of ancient drums being beaten upon in a frivolous little manner. Remind him almost of the uncivilized tribes from the old stories, he thought that maybe the Gorons weren't too smart, and he spoke to his fairie. "You hear that?"

"Yea, sounds very soothing." She went to his face, and sat upon his nose, humming along with the tune, stopping when she caught his stare, giggling uncomfortably. "You ready to confront Daruina? I have heard he is a very hard Goron. That one from before was soft on you; he is just a citizen. Don't expect that from the Goron Boss."

"Yes ma'am. I guess I can handle him. I have survived a lot these past three weeks. Okies, I guess I am ready for this. Let's go." Besides, it wasn't like they were going to have to fight this boss of the rock-eaters, right?

"This place reminds me of an ant farm, Link. What is that!" She fluttered up to this huge tower, the large thing that seemed to be shaped from an old material. Now, this thing was about fifty feet tall, and in the shape or a Goron, a very large one. Why hadn't he seen it before? Because the monster-tower had been a layer below, nevertheless it was huge, just one below. Other than that, the place had no other distinct features, there were torches all around and a sealed door to the north of them. Link walked to the door and pounded on it, only responded with a voice almost as loud as the Deku Tree's.

"Unless you are from the Royal Family, Aniki doesn't want to speak to you! Leave me alone before I crush the precious stone!" Horrified, Link backed away; tripping upon a rub that was underneath his feet.

Navi flew to the rub and spread it out, reading the text upon it and noticing the Triforce symbol. "Link, the Triforce. I think you may have to play the Royal Family melody before we can enter. Thank Goddess we learned it, Eh?" Link grabbed the mat, positioning it back where it stood and read the text upon it.

_The Great Daruina's Room. _

_Only shall the Great Royal Family enter the scorn _

_Without the Royal Family Tune, nothing complied soon._

A quick flash of the wrist, and the ocarina was placed in-between his palms, with the nozzle at his lips. Concentrating without the paper-written notes, Link played the entire Song of the Royal Family. As in compliment, the door slid from its hidden hinges and slid into the wall. It was a tyranny large door that stood at least seven feet tall with the scuffle of some paint upon it. The paint resembled some berry fixations, the whole door was outlined with connecting lines going inside of the door and forming the shape of some jewel of a kind. Link would take a guess and say it was the Spiritual Stone of Fire, but that was just a hypothesis. Inside of the newly opened entrance was a path that led into a field of darkness.

Navi stayed ahead of Link, to guide the way with her veil, she was almost reminded as some sort of flashlight. This prevented any misjudged danger of the ghouls that lived within in the dark, ghouls and all. Malachite form upon his body shone forward with the azure light just a few centimeters from his body, but the warmth kept the pursuit on. A hollow corridor led down for what seemed to be thousands of miles long, yet it only lasted less than five minutes. Pretty soon a rouged shadow of the room appeared as they crossed from around a corner.

_--------------------_

_Damn that man! Damn him and his fucking Gerudo whores! Our entire race is going to starve just because I wouldn't give up our precious stone. Is this my own fault for my own gluttony? Sure, he liked to lick and nibble at the stone from time to time, but he guessed that this was his fault. When was the king going to send his men to help? We are sworn brothers! Daruina placed his hands at his sides, breathing in a deep breath from the Islamic cremation-look a like room. This room was his; it always helped him think during crises, so he had locked himself up in this room less than a week ago. A few days after that man from the desert had left, Ganondorf Dragmire, had visited him. Yes, he still remembered the coldness in his eyes. _

It was strange how he wanted my help at first. _Ganondorf had actually started the mission off as a plea-party. He asked the Goron for the stone._

"Please, Master Daruina, I beg you for the stone of the fire. The King needs it_." His voice almost seemed sincere, but Daruina had learned to never trust those idiotic sand-monkeys._

_Daruina didn't even want to have a damned thing to deal with him and simply he scoffed and broke back with a sarcastic comply._ "Really? Then why hasn't my Sworn Brother sent me a keepsake? Unless you are one, but you don't seem the messenger type, to me. "

"I am not a messenger, but I need the Spiritual Stone of Fire, please!" _Sincere was reflecting through his eyes, but Daruina could see that inside of those pores bled the heart of an evil man._

_This man was not from the King, because the king always sent a special insignia with his messengers. Of course this man wasn't one, he didn't have the insignia upon him, the ceremony had always stated this. Daruina just scoffed at the man, shaking his head sadly._ "I am sorry, Gerudo, but you are not allowed the stone. My Brother gave me this stone to me nine years ago, and told me to never lose it or give it too anyone. Besides, I never trust a Gerudo."

_That was his fatal mistake, and Daruina was now regretting it when he heard the tune of the Royal Family. The big Goron regretted it because soon after that conversation, the man in the black armour looked him dead in the eyes and hissed out like a snake. "_You will suffer, Goron. I will make sure you will suffer."

_He took a swing at Ganondorf, if hit probably would have fractured his skull, but the skilled Gerudo leapt back using his theft training. Turning around, the evil man stormed out of the Goron City and was never heard from again. That wasn't the end of it, however, because by the end of the second night after he was gone, was when Daruina ran into some trouble. The long extinct Dodongo had reappeared, and a giant boulder had appeared on the cave of Dodongos. Whenever anyone broke or blew the rock up, it would regenerate in a matter of seconds, crushing those who had dared to get close to the site. He had sent word to the King that he was in trouble, but the funny thing was the messenger never returned. His long returns and bitter nightmares were interrupted with that tune. _

_Snapping out of it, he let out a long chuckle and pounded the switch that opened the room. Yes, his brother was coming to visit him, he felt himself calmed with this little expression in him. When he told the king of the troubles that Ganondorf had causes, his Sworn Brother would surely crush that preposterous villain, but something happened the Goron didn't expect. A small boy appeared in the front of the door, aligned with a light that seemed a bright blue. _

_--------------------_

Navi didn't even get the chance to explain the structure of the Gorons, because a loud and voice as loud as the Deku Tree intercepted her feminine voice. This was the voice from earlier, except it was ten times as booming. "Is the King of Hyrule denying the Daruina the privilege of a real meeting!"

Link turned towards the voice, letting out a gasp of fright, he looked nothing like the other Goron! That first one he had met was a towering seven feet, but the Aniki of rock-eating races was a bludgeon nine feet tall. No flabby stomach was on this one, his stomach was sticking out, but it shone with the same muscle-veins that aligned over the rest of his body. They must all have those naturally it was wondered as the staring of the Goron continued.

Thought the boy, before noticing his face. The head was fit for the body that was for sure. Upon his head was more than a small inkling of blonde hair, the hair was naturally spiked up in the same right direction, but there was at least ten different up dikes on the top of his head. It curved down to his lower head and connected with his beard, that reached downward at the middle of his gut. A strong determined nose stuck out, not at all like those holes stuffed into the other Gorons. Speaking of his muscles, they bulged out three times as much as the other one from before, and two tattoos were on both of his arms.

_Maybe that is the clan symbol?_ It was the same design as on the one from earlier. Another quality were his hands were so large Link could sleep in them, oh and the wrist bands around his arms and legs. Gulping, Link stared forward and started to speak. "I'm--"

Navi intercepted him, as usual. "This is Link, he was sent by Princess Zelda-sama to receive the Spiritual Stone of Fire."

Daruina stared at the small fly, or whatever it was, then his face grew a large red. "Now everyone is after it! No, no, no! I refuse to give the stone up, even if we all starve. You aren't from Princess Zelda, you are from Ganondorf, correct!" It wasn't a question; the Goron pounced forward, taking the small child up by the collar on his tunic, staring him in the eyes. "Don't you lie to me!"

"I-I'm not! She taught me the song! Impa-san used to sing it to her as a child… Please, Mr. Daruina!" Link cried out, when he hit the floor with an abrupt smack. It wasn't a forceful fall, otherwise his bones would be broken, but he stared up at the sighing Goron.

"I am sorry, young man. I did not mean to lash out at you, it's just that this half a month has royally pissed me off." He picked the child up, sitting him down in a chair and brushed him off gently with those huge hands.

Link couldn't believe how gentle he was, but he took the brushing off and nodded. "Anything I can do to cheer you up?"

"No, you are much too young to do anything I would like." He turned around and began to talk about his encounter with the Gerudo King.

While the Goron king spoke, Link took this opportunity to explore the room with his eyes. It wasn't that big, a very small room, and some of the rugs as from the outside were in here. The room was definitely different than the Hylian rooms or those of the Kokiiri, which was a plus. These had only random marks he couldn't make out, he guessed they were the Goron languages. Turning his eyes towards Navi, he rolled them boringly.

Navi shushed him quietly and turned towards the room, also exploring it to his full extent. The story was quite interesting, but with all the things they had heard about Ganondorf, they did not want to hear anymore about this cold-hearted bastard. Flicks of conflagrant fire went ablaze around the room, as if setting the mood for something. They were assigned in a pair of torches at each sides of the room.

Also, there was a huge wall at the back of the room, near where Daruina was, but on this wall were all kinds of rock-structures with a figure standing alight. This figurine was taller than the King Goron was, it actually reminded the two of pre-evolution Gorons. Navi went to Link's shoulder, sitting down and rested the face of her veil against his neck. A bright spark was accustomed when he stroked her veil, also stroking her body, rewarded with a small sigh of satisfaction.

Daruina finished just in time, for when he turned around, Link was staring at him nodding eagerly. "But, I guess this doesn't concern you. You aren't a Goron, after all. What are you? Some Hylian who likes green?" The Hylian men, except royalty, all wore the pants and shorts. This little guy was dressed in a tunic, had a sword and two shields. Surprised he was carrying a Hyrulian shield upon his back; he reached over and stared him down.

"I'm a Kokiiri." He smiled a little proudly, he was more interested in this than the story that the Goron had told.

"A forest child! Ho! That is a good one, but you can't be a forest child, they have far--" He had seen the spark from earlier, but he thought it was something else. No, Sprites were pink and never wore veils. "You are a forest child, I thought they couldn't leave the forest."

"Should I tell him, Navi?" It was different that he should know, but maybe he was like Zelda, a reliable ally whom he could trust him--hopefully.

"Sure, he is the King and wouldn't really try anything." She seemed to have agreed with him and with a smile aligning upon her lips, and she nodded.

"Try what, if I may prey to ask." Daruina hated the game of cat and mouse, he hated to be manipulated, and always wanted the truth straight out.

"The Great Deku Tree died, he was cursed by Ganondorf, that man you speak of. I clashed swords with the spider named Gohma inside of the Deku Tree-sama, but the poison was already fatal and he died soon after. He asked me to come see the Princess of Destiny, there I met Zelda learned this tune and was assigned here." There was what happened with him learning the tune, it was a good thing he told, and that tune was a tightly kept secret.

"The Deku Tree died, so sad. I remember him during the old war." Who would forget those little ones, for the Kokiiri were the ones who did not want to participate in the war, the only civil ones, as he remembered. "The Princess requests the stone?"

"Yes, sir."

"No, I refuse too. I do not feel the mood; I am too grumpy to even negotiate with my Sworn Brother. Leave, please!" Spinning around, he walked back to a table, slamming his fist upon, it and studied the maps. It wasn't actually a map, but how to divide up the food supply between him and the rest of his people.

Link craned his head, putting Navi in his hands, and stared at her, whispering. "What do we do?"

"Lighten the mood. Maybe you should play a tune for him?" The ocarina was a beautifully sounding instrument, it could probably be used to lighten someone up to a lighter mood.

"Which one?" He pondered.

"Zelda's didn't work, so try Saria's. I doubt the Sun's, or Miss Malon's will work." Navi fluttered down to his pack and retrieved his Ocarina, placing it into his palms, along with the paper of notes.

"I'll do my best." He muttered as he took a deep breath, and trying to not mix the notes up, he respectfully played the song of Saria for the grumpy Daruina, hoping the results were well..

Something changed between the old Goron, and the young boy. Daruina turned around, when he heard the first part of the ocarina tune, as to make him stop, but he stopped dead in his tracks. A bit of fear was displayed upon the boy's face as he watched the man jump all around. Staring forward, the Goron began to hop up and down, like a female rabbit in heat. Racket was displayed as he hopped up into the air and cheered to the Goddesses. The Goron spoke with a full jovial voice.

"Hot! Hot! Oh, yea!" Spinning around, knocking the table over, he began to bend down and shake his behind all over the room. This went on for another few minutes, when he stopped, heard the beat and broke up into another series of senseless dances, this time whooping with joy.

"Whoooaa! Yahoooo! What a hot beat!" Finishing the tune, the astonished and scared, Link gaped at the man in wonder. He was no dancer, that was for sure, but even Link could dance better than that. Gorons must have had two left feet, as the old saying went. Putting his ocarina back, the boy walked to the creature with easy steps, hoping not to get pummeled for doing something bad.

Daruina calmed down, giving a few belly laughs, before he scooped Link up, holding him before him. "Ha! What a hot beat, young man. You made my depression run away."

"So, we can have the Spiritual Stone?" Navi inquired, she had been just as shocked as Link of how much of a bad dancer this one was.

"Well, little farie, you may have it. But on one condition." His grin came upon him, it wasn't an angry one, but one that seemed to be one of enthusiasm. The Goron had something up his sleeves, even though he didn't wear a shirt, but that heavily-muscled Golem did seem suspicious.

"What's that, Daruina." Link spoke out.

"Clear the Dodongos out of the Dodongo's Cavern. Now, don't look so surprised. If you want this stone, you have to prove to me that you are a real man!" Beating on his chest, he sat Link down and reached back behind him pulling out a small wristband. This band was must different from the ones he was wearing; it was golden and looked sort of like a crown. The Goron insignia was implanted on the front of the fashion attire, and he slipped it on Link's right arm.

_I'm not sure if I can do it, but I shall try. _Of course he wasn't going to state that out, the man might think he was some sort of wimp or something. What he did and nod his head back and forth, smile somewhat and was about to leave when the man spoke out to him once more.

"Here, take this. Don't think of it as a present or anything, you'll need it, believe me. Wear this and even a little guy like you can pick up those Bomb Flowers. You are going to need them to survive the adventures in Dodongo's Cavern. The cavern is full of places that need to be bombed, walls and special areas of that sort." Nodding, the man let the boy take the piece of metal from him, just knowing that the kid was going to need it.

The new piece of equipment went right below his palm, and he could feel the newfound strength with this piece of hardware. He knew that a newfound power was in him, probably as strong as a Goron now, he wondered. If that was the case, this place would be a breeze, but cockiness would not come over him, he had learned with Gohma. Smiling towards the Goron, he ran out of the door and made his way up the stairs that led out of Goron City. In such a hurry to get out, the boy left the Goron City in an hour and a half, instead of the usual three hours. The Gorons were probably slow, that was all, right?

_--------------------_

It took a lot less more time to get back down then it took on the way up, and that was a wonderful thing for the two. The less time it took to get down, was the faster they finished the cavern and were on their way out with the second Spiritual Stone. On the way down Death Mountain, the same mistake was no repeated of the path switching, so they actually only spent a day heading down towards the Dodongo Cavern. It only took a day because Link would run down the paths, jump over the crevices, and went with no breaks. The climbing up would take longer, but the downward part was the most fun.

Before he left the Goron City, Navi had wandered a few yards from the entrance to the city and shone a bright green. "Link, another area."

The wandering wind blower's intentions had been true. When he got to the area, he saw one of those "Bomb Flowers" everyone was talking about. It was basically a huge black object stuffed inside of a flowing petal of leaves. Heaving the bomb up, the thing ignited, and the frightened Link threw it over the edge. That wasn't a real bad accident, because a few minutes later a small ignite went on and peering over the cliff, he saw that the boulder blocking Dodongo's Cavern was gone.

He had to beat; there was only twenty-four hours, maybe more since Ganondorf was far away. The boy just had to beat it, and he knew it was possible. That was the start of racing away from the city and dodging down the pathways to the Dodongo's Cavern. There were no stops, a two-hour nap spent the next day, and eating while he ran along the place. It was hard to keep not from choking, but he just went on with that, hoping his path towards the cavern would get easier along the way.

During the day and a half stride, he called Saria once. It was weird talking to her this way, and when he blew the tune of Saria, a voice piped in. It was hers, giving him a beautiful "hello." Link chatted with her while he ran and explained his situation. Also explaining he may not have been able to go out to the Kokiiri Forest, explaining where he was.

"It's fine Link. Oh, I found some information on the third Spiritual Stone. It's called the Spiritual Stone of Water." Although he had a presumption about that, he had gotten this from her was better than ever.

"Water?" Now panting, he had the Ocarina inside his satchel, since he didn't need it to talk to her. It was if they were linked telepathically.

"The Zoras own the Spiritual Stone of Water, also known as the Zora's Sapphire. I will tell you more about it when we talk next; you seem out of breath. Even if you can't come see me, come visit me before you head back to Zelda with the final stone."

"Sure, hee!" The conversation didn't end there, he told her of his travels so far from when he left the village. Mentioning the new friend Anjou, the people of Kakariko, and the outrageous dance of Daruina. That had actually caught a giggle from her, thinking of a giant Goron dancing around from her song.

"Link, I've heard that strange music you speak of. Maybe there is a passageway that warps the two lands together?" Perhaps that there was an old magic down in the forest and a hidden lake that linked the two lands together.

"Maybe, I'll check when I get back. I am on my way to beat the Dodongos to earn Daruina's trust." Daruina, he thought that she remembered whom it was, but either way he would tell her eventually. Upon the way back, he would make he way with the new spiritual stone and show it just for her.

"A Dodongo. You know what those are?" Her voice seemed a little worried, as if that the Dodongo were bad things--how could they be when their bags were situated in Hyrule.

"No, I don't." He muttered out softly.

A sigh blew through his ears, almost a feeling she was there, and then she spoke out sadly. "Link, I taught you better. Dodongo is Kokiirish for dinosaur. As in the ancient, extinct species of giant lizards."

"I will be on my guard then." Link had nodded bluntly, and then the talk went on for a few more hours, before he laid himself down for a rest.

_--------------------_

The rock never regenerated. Some withstanding act of purity kept the evil from multiplying and holding the hero back ever more. A hole was firmly standing ajar when the two descended down the slope to the cavern, only one fourth from the Kakariko Village. Brushing a loose strand of cornstalk back, Link went through his pack easily, checking to see if the Fairie Slingshot, nuts, sticks, and heart containers were at easy access. These beauties had saved his life one too many times, and he needed them for these occasions.

Navi prepared him by pulling out his Deku shield from the bag and wrapping it around his left hand where a small caplet was. There he could slip his arm under it, and prop the shield up with guarding defects. Doing so, the Kokiirish blade settled into his right hand. Navi fluttered at his side, staring down the path. There was no way to see what was going on, only blackness surrounded.

"You ready?" She peeped out, guarding above his head, as an animal guards its territory. The mistake with Gohma wouldn't happen again.

"I…I don't think I'll ever be ready for these adventures. Is it going to be like the Deku Tree?" He whimpered a little bit, muttering under his breath that he wouldn't let what happened last time come about again.

"I am very sure it is. These Dodongo's don't seem that tough, but there may be a mother, or a leader like Gohma was to her offspring." Link couldn't help but shiver at the name. Gohma, was the name that he still had nightmares about the spider. Sure he joked about it occasionally with Navi, but deep down he knew that he would never stare at another spider in his life.

"Ready?" This time a little more compassion in her voice."

"Yea, sure. I don't think I'll ever be more ready than I am now." Pacing himself a few steps back, as if turning to run, he stopped himself assertively. No…no running away from these monsters. I will prove myself, this time. A flick of the wrist, keeping the sword at his approach whenever necessary, and his hand never leaving the shield, the young hero entered the deep cavern with a guardian light at his top.


	7. Chapter VI A Dinosaur's Ring of Flames

-1

Chapter VI: A Dinosaur of Fire

Copyright: I do not own Zelda, Nintendo does. Story by Habuki productions.

The path led out two more miles into the darkness, before a gloomy aura began to prevail around the entire scenery. A background, he entered, separated from the darkness and inside of a new room. This new room was arranged with the walls that were made of rocks, it rained up thirty feet. Of course, that had been the size of the entrance to the caverns. Up ahead was a straight path that led to a door. No, no, it wasn't a door. Because when Link walked up to the door and tapped on it, the thing didn't spring up. Tapping it with his sword, a clank sound erupted the atmosphere. Blinking abruptly, he turned around and sighed. "Navi?"

"Tap the wall, see if it sounds different." That was a great little experiment, and she wanted him to go for it.

This little experiment proved actually useful. The walls made a clink sound, but when he hit the door another clank sound went all around. "The door's hollow, Navi?"

"Yea, Linky. Let's see…Link! The bombs!"

Turning around, he peered that to the side of the rock-clawed path they went down were two small platforms with a Bomb Flower upon each platform. Grasping forward, he ran into one of the Bomb Flowers and yanked it up. The fear went over when the fuse ignited on the bomb. This was weird, because he had only had it for a few seconds before, but these flowers were bigger than the ones up in Goron City. Throwing the explosive at the wall, he backed up a few yards, holding his ears and waited.

A KA-boom sounded and all at once Link thought he was going deaf. Frantically, falling onto his side, he clawed at his ears crying out softly. He would have kept clawing if Navi hadn't pulled his hands aside and kissed his forehead. "Shh, be quiet."

After what seemed like ten hours, but was ten at the least, the pain subsided and his eyes fluttered open in confusion. It was like the pain had not throbbed away at all, and the weirdest thing was that the ache just dissipated all at once. Looking forward, Navi was sitting on his cheek, leaning down with the veil off, and kissing his cheeks. She was humming a soft hymn. Noticing the crying stopped; she looked up and smiled at him, stroking his cheeks. "Shh, it's gone."

"That hurt, Navi."

"Yes, Gorons don't have ears, you see. They do have ears; they are stored deep inside of their skulls so they have a high pain tolerance in sound waves. But I do have something for you."

"What?" Standing up, his hand caught her before she could flutter away, and he stared at the door with a gaped expression. Where once the door stood was now an opening inside of a much larger room. This adventure was just starting, sure the bombs hurt, but he might be able to stop it. Yes, if only he could stop the pain. That was when the time would start for his new adventure. He could hardly see inside of the room, but he could feel the evil roaming through it. Ganondorf had definitely been here, because it smelt just like Gohma's lair.

Navi interrupted his thoughts of the new places, by flying up to him and pulling his face down to hers. "Here you are, Linky. I want you to have this." She reached inside his satchel and pulled out the bottle they got from Lon-Lon Ranch. Inside the bottle was a little farie. Yes, he remembered how they got this one; they had bought her from that man in Kakariko. He was selling faries, so Link bought her for a few rubies.

_"How's about a prize, sonny?" Link turned towards the man, shrugging his shoulders, Anjou had given him some rubies to spare. _

_"I have this ancient pixie dust. An ancient sprite from the forest!" He spoke in a mysterious tone, pulling out a small bottle. Store inside the bottle was a small pink sprite, staring at the ground, in sadness. Navi gathered at Link's ear and had explained that it was not a sprite, but a healing farie. _

_"I've seen one of those before, mine is better, anyway." _

_Yours? Sonny, this is a farie. Only Kokiiri have--faries?" He had glanced at his shoulder, only to see a large veiled figure that was a bit bigger than the boy's palms. _

_Hovering over his shoulder, the thing spoke in a feminine voice. "I am a farie, that is a healing farie, you want to get charged with fraud. I know what a sprite is!" _

_Gasping, knowing he had been had, the man emptied the sprite out, throwing it at him, and stepped aside uneasily. "I am sorry, great Kokiiri!" _

_Leaping forward, Link gathered the healing farie, sticking her inside of his second empty bottle, the first with fresh Lon-Lon Milk, then Link threw out ten green_ rubies. _"Here you go, I don't want to take your stuff without pay." That was that, the sprite that would save something was now bought. _

"Navi, what do you want with Miss Fiija?" Link had named her that, and had been keeping her safe ever since they left Kakariko. It had been the morning they left Anjou that he had ran into that crazy old man in the blue robe.

"Fiija is going to help you with your ears."

"How?"

"Like this," Navi proposed, pulling the cap of the bottle out and a pink sprite pulled out. They were actually more of fairies, than sprites, but that was unimportant. The little healing being flew up to Link's ears, caressing them, but instead of disappearing she stayed at his side and guarded near his ears. Navi was just above the healer, and she nodded to Link. "She will heal your ears so much, so that they won't hurt."

"Wait--explain that again?"

"Well, Linky, let me tell you. This farie is going to guard your ears, because the reason it hurts so much in here is because of the cavern. This cavern is made just reflect sounds, or this is what I think, since the bomb outside didn't hurt your ears. Whenever you use them, which I think we may have to go, she will heal you before the pain starts."

Chuckling, he gathered the pink farie up and gave her a kiss on the cheek, with his own little lips.. Small high-pitched laughter came out, and then she went back to his ear, hanging off of it like an earring. It felt nice with her on him, the pain from walking, he was a little tired, didn't seem to be upon him. That was great, the boy would be able to go on without the fear of collapsing, or going to sleep for that matter. Gathering Navi up this time, he kissed her cheek, setting her on his hat and walked forward into the nearly lighted room.

The new room was twice as tall as the last, being because there were two levels, but no way up. When he looked up all he saw were some platforms connected to the high grounds, and two bridges that stretched across the width of the two hundred feet scenery. It may have been eighty feet up, but it was wider than the pervious room they had been inside. You think that was strange? Up ahead was one of the strangest things he had ever seen.

At the end of the main room was a giant dinosaur's head! The monster's skull breached into the wall. It was a beautiful blue, with black, soul-less eyes staring forward. Two small holes in its long snout breathed through a dead display. The thing had been dead for whom knows how long, but it wasn't a skull. It looked like the skull was plastered with armour to preserve it, or maybe worship it?

"Navi!"

She wasn't even looking at that, she was staring at what was beneath the floor. They were on a platform, but it had two slopes that led down to two other platforms on the left and right sides of the room. At the back of the room was the Dodongo skull, and positioned in the center was another piece of land. Beneath the cracks, and there were a lot of those cracks, since the platforms were small, was lava. Hot, flowing lava poured all at the floor regions of the ground. It wasn't exactly lava, but the floor melted bubbly hot with just a little of the liquid magma. "Link, walk to the edge and look down."

Ten feet forward, staring, and then he leapt back with his eyes widen with fear. "What is that!"

"Lava. This is an active volcano, after all. It is still hot, but I wouldn't worry about it emerging, just don't land in it or it will burn you to death."

Gulping, he nodded and walked towards the edge once more. Across were a small spinning statue and the middle platform, but he noticed something else. A sliding sound had been in the room ever since they entered, but now he saw what it was. Between the platform connected to the ground, both the left and right, were two smaller pillars that were going up and down. They stopped right above and the lava, and ended right above the platforms. Nodding, he ignored them and leapt forward.

If Link had measured, the jump would have been twelve feet forward. For someone his age, that was impossible, but the strength pulled forward, especially when he pulled into a ball. Remembering what the Deku Scrub said, Link had rolled up and propelled himself forward. An uncomfortable thump occurred, but he was back on his feet in a few seconds, brushing the dirt away. Navi was watching the statue, which turned out to be a small metal figurine of a creature with one eye and a mouth. The mouth was close shut, but the eye was spinning right above his head and heading towards them.

"B-Beamos! Link, run!"

"Navi, what are you--" The eye had stopped right infront of him, staring at him, and a beam of chi light emerged from the pupil. If the beam had hit him, it would have been pain, but if he had blocked the beam would have penetrated through the wood and still fried him. He knew this, so he jumped to the right. That should have been the end of the crisis, except the beam didn't stop, and this time it hit the ground and started dragging towards him. How was it dragging, you ask? The "Beamos" was tilting its head hurriedly towards the boy, the mouth still in a ferocious grin. This was no statue that was for sure.

_--------------------_

Navi had to save him. Why hadn't she seen it before! She knew what the Beamos were, of course she did, but she had just thought it was a statue, that was, until he had leapt across. The leap had really frightened her, she not thinking he could make it, but once again the young hero had proved her wrong. I love that about him. Concentrating all her chi into a single beam, knowing she couldn't kill it, Navi hit the thing straight in the eye. Like automation, the beam of its stopped and the eye slammed shut. A screech of pain filled the hollow corridor, and Navi yelled out. "Jump Link!"

_--------------------_

All at once he had a direction. The right direction seemed the most appropriate, because it was his favorite direction, and the other region held another one of those Beamos characters. So, turning right, he leapt forward and landed upon the small platform. The Beamos had come back to life now and the funny thing was its chi light couldn't reach him. Giggling, he awaited for the platform to raise up, then he jumped the other six feet to the right platform. When it was over, he slumped against a wall like the one he bombed before, looking back at the Beamos. "What was that?"

The fairish muttering sounded, it was Fiija, now at his side and soothing the scratches he received from earlier. Looking over, he saw Navi was lying by the Beamos, and the Beamos was awake. Navi is by the Beamos! Gasping, he pushed Fiija at his side, leapt up and kept his sword up. During the struggles with the Beamos, he had sheathed it into his sheath for the time being, but now it was out and ready.

Running to the fully ready pillar, he jumped upon it and easily leapt across to the Beamos. Its beam was narrowing towards Navi when Link pushed the blade of the sword into its pupil. Another screech went forward, the sword buried inside of it. Link gathered Navi up, yanking a bearer out of the creature's pupil. Link was on the other side, before it started shooting madly at no one.

When he reached the other side, Fiija gave Navi a good run through, disappearing under his hat for further inspection of her temporary master. Link knelt at Navi's side, checking her wounds, sighing with relief. "Navi…wake up, what happened?"

_--------------------_

The thing that happened was that that monster had struck Navi in the back. After she had blinded the creature, she waited for Link to get across, hopeful would make it against the tricky corridor. Before he got across was when the Beamos came back to life and struck her down. It didn't notice her at first, because she was so small, but soon the tyrant spotted her and started moving towards her. That was all she saw, before unconsciousness took over.

Next thing she reminisced was a pair of beautiful azure eyes staring into her own. Blinking awake, she stared up at Link, and gasped out loud. "Link, what happene--?" Never getting to finish the sentence, he engulfed her in a barrel of hugs, giggling and snuggling with the little one. She complied back, not being able to give much out, but she took as much as came to her. Even though he was getting stronger, the boy was so gentle with her, that it was almost funny.

A few minutes later, Navi pulled back and stared over at the Beamos to see what it was up too. What she saw made her stifle back a small giggle, so that the thing couldn't hear with those ears that just weren't there. It was staring at the ground, shooting blindly at bold dust. Black blood gushed from where the eye used to be. So, he blinded it, Eh? Chuckling silently, she crept over to examine the newest part of the room they were in, with Link following behind her.

The right platform consisted of three different passageways, the one they leaned against, another wall that would be bombed, and one that was ten feet in the air. The one in the air was actually a huge square high above, so she couldn't reach in, but flying up she saw that it was a huge door and a switch. The switch was too heavy to come too, so she ignored it for the time being. She may have been able to carry Link far when she was at full strength, but now she was a little tired. Moving backward, she laid on his shoulder lazily.

Link spotted another Bomb Flower, but two doors. A problem presented him, so he pulled the bomb out and threw it to the left. As it explored, a sprinkling sound went onward, and his earache never went on, but the sad thing was in the door was just one of those stupid Gossip Stones. Yes, they were in the Lost Woods, plus they told the time. Striking the stone with the Kokiirish blade, the two-foot tall model that was imprinted with curves and an eye in the middle, now spoke in a squeaky voice. "Boing, Boing! The time is twelve twenty-five o'clock!"

"That was useless, Link." The farie led Link back to the Bomb Flower and to both their surprises, the flower had regenerated itself back to normal.

"N-Navi?"

"Hmm, weird. I thought they may have to be grown, but it seems not so." All right, there is another wall on the other side, let's try bombing that, and if nothing happens we can try the other side. That seems unlikely though." There weren't any Bomb Flowers over there.

Link bent at the knees, lifting the bomb with the crown upon it. The long ash fuse began to sparkle, and he leapt forward, throwing the explosive up against the wall. The fake slide imploded and the brown walls with the cracks upon it, crackled into tiny bits of pieces. Rushing forward, as the smoke cleared and his own elven ears healed up, Link followed Navi inside of the newly opened passage. The walls closed in once more, like the entrance room, and led down a similar path in darkness.

A room of spiky-shaped end was in this one. The ends seemed to jag back and forth, as if zigzagging to one different direction and then to another way. The dirt upon the still stone paved wall was a lighter shade of brown, but that was the only new thing about the room. About forty yards ahead was a platform raised on crisscrossed bars, and two statues at both sides of the platform, on the ground. There was nothing else in the room that seemed sort of idiotic.

"Navi, what is this? We've only run into one monster. This isn't a dungeon." He had expected more vicious villains, but now almost ten minutes into it and not a specimen in sight.

"Yes, but you must stay on your guard, Link. You never know what is cre--" Stopping dead in speech, she stared up ahead, a hand pushed from the veil and yanked forward. "Link! Something is coming out of the ground!"

"Huh, what are you talking about…" Glancing down at the ground, some seven feet ahead, the ground began to crumble a little. Nothing big was rising, at least not a giant, but something was definitely coming.

_--------------------_

It felt something, all right. That was why sensei sent them too do. Search out and destroy the intruder, because this one wasn't like the others. This one was smaller, had a blade of steel, and two blocking utensils. Each was situated in a group of three, so they wouldn't be out numbered with this creature and its minion. Yes, it had a minion that shot out something like the Beamos did. The others had been sent to other rooms, since sensei couldn't pinpoint the intruder's location, and they had been the lucky ones.

It was the leader of the squadron, so when it began to burrow up north, the other two were at its left and right moving through the dirt. There was a policy to be followed and the creature was going to go ahead with it, for the master. This creature may have been able to take out the Beamo, but they were superior to that minion, and this new creature would taste just delicious for them to snack on, giving the rest to their sensei. Yea, the sensei would allow them to taste it, for poison or bitter tastes, but the commander knew it. This thing just had to taste good, it knew that at long last, the path seemed closer than ever.

Finally the ground split out from the twenty feet tunnel they were digging in. This was to keep those stupid special crops those old creatures made from affecting them. Now, with teeth bared, it leapt from the earth first and darted at the creature. Its own squad leaping out four seconds later, they would be the backup incase he failed. That was a precaution, the monster knew as it flew through the air that this little creature wouldn't prevail..

_--------------------_

The next two holes were easier to hear then to see, but he finished by looking north and spotting them. They weren't as important as when the creature leapt forward. This monster that Link could have held with open arms jumped forward with a pair of razor sharp teeth bared. Navi was quick at the creature's side, examining it and screaming out. Her newfound information came about, she felt as if she were psychic and could compute an enemy's name and values.

"A baby Dodongo, just like the Gohmas. It's vulnerable all around, since it's new, so slash it anyway you want."

Link couldn't have slashed it, because the first went past him, almost clearing his arm off. Dodging westward, the razor blades, but they scraped against his forearm. Immediate pain surged throughout the entire escapade, but Link ignored the numbness that now took on this luck of evasion. It was only a bloody scratch; those things could have gone for his throat. They were aiming for that area.

Spinning around, ignoring the two that had so much half way out of the ground, he took a quick second to study the creature. It was smaller than he imagined at first glance, he could easily lift the thing with on arm. Yes, it was a baby Dodongo for that reason he saw no arms or legs. This 'fearsome' monster was just an infant squiggling upon its cold, yellow underbelly. Smirking a little, Link walked to the thing, which was turning towards him, and pushed the head of the Kokiirish Blade inside of its skull. The crimson eyes filled up with blood, as a screech echoed through the empty room, a screech of pity and death. Kicking the dinosaur away, he yanked the blade up and turned to the other two…the two were flying right at him.

_--------------------_

Navi had blinded the two, only temporarily, when the boy was in his battle with the young Dodongo. The determination in his eyes actually frightened her for a few seconds. He had changed, that was for sure, moving from a scared little boy to a fear-less warrior. That was good and bad, for some of her reasons. It was wonderful, because the journey would be easier with him, but horrible at losing his childhood to some demeanor of Goddesses never shown to the world. What she didn't understand was why these three couldn't stop Ganondorf themselves. Of course, when she saw the scratch with the Dodongo, her mouth filled with bile. How dare they hurt him!

Now those two siblings were back in full action, leaping towards their prey: Link. Letting the thoughts chill away, Navi rushed at the two beings, firing a solid light into each of its eyes. This was no blindness, but one of those chi attacks that Impa had taught her. Penetrating the eyes was an understatement. What the chi did was burn those orbs right from their sockets. Two more screeches went up, the two stopping dead in the air, fighting nothing that was there. She now turned towards Link and nodded appropriately. It was time to finish them off.

_--------------------_

_Great thinking!_ Link had been ready to hide under the Hyrulian shield when he heard the screech, watching the duo fall down, in surprise. It was almost comical how they each fell upon their bellies, never being able to get back up, yet still flapping around like fish taken from the water. Smearing the blood from his blade on the ground, he wiped it clean, and decided a better way to finish these two off, and there he walked to each one of them, smashing them right in the skull. Red blood splattered all over those cloth boots, rolled at the ends, to keep from falling off. Smearing dirt with his other foot, the liquid soon came off and nothing was left except two dead, twitching corpses.

Funny thing was, the things were glowing red, the color was like on a snake, as if to warn someone. The color was so bright as if something were going to happen, then again, it probably was. Then an explosion from where he had been thirty seconds around. Spinning around, Link saw the corpse had a self-destruction sequence. It was apparent what was happened, it was a kamikaze all over again, the death would begin.

"Link, they blow up! Run north!" Navi was already tugging at his ears, before he turned north and ran for those statues and the platform with bars. Not that big, but an accumulating blast launched him forward, just as he reached the platform, twenty-five seconds later. Leaning against the wall, he reached into his pack and took out the 1st Aid Kit that Saria had packed for him.

_--------------------_

"Stop being a baby!" She shushed him, rubbing some more of the alcohol with a small piece of cloth. They had originally planned to sit down for twenty minutes to eat lunch, bandage Link up, and then head off. The two had eaten some of their berries and those new meats that could survive days without freshness, but the patching was a different story.

"It hurts, Navi!" Link was sitting on the structure. It wasn't actually a platform, being it was only four feet up in the air. The structure was actually brandished in a rustic wire from head to toe, only two small boards made room for foot walking possible at all. With their stomachs full, both recharged from those heart pieces (Link had three actually), and clothes fastened for battle. How could this little hero be scared of a little alcohol?

"It treats infection. You want it to get infected so we have to cut it off? Hmm, how does the one-handed swordsman sound?"

He frantically whined, swatting at her playfully. "Shut up!" Not at all offensive, just a cute way of saying it, he didn't believe her, did he? Biting his lip, the last of the full amount poured upon his scraped forearm. After a few shakes of pain, it wasn't as bad as the slash had been; his arm was patched up with some of the 1st Aid bandaging.

"See, was that so bad?" Navi questioned after the two had finished packing the supplies up and as it turned out they had been seated for about an hour or so. That might back an hour or thirty minutes through this entire dungeon.

"Yes, it was 'so bad'!" Whining, he turned towards the door, seeing the bars once more and pouted aloud. "How do we get to this? If we step on the switch and then step off, the bars reappear."

"I've been thinking about it for a while and I have a solution." She seemed to be better at computing now, since he was sitting there and acting like a little child. Though, he was one in a sense, he was smaller than her, very much younger, so maybe he was acting like himself.

"Which is?" He smiled a little, the pain gone and listened to his knowledgeable fairie, she would help guide his innocent self through this place, he just knew it.

She pointed to one of the two statues randomly. "Pick a statue and push it there."

"No way." Those things were hideous! A statue wasn't going to hurt you, he knew that, but these two creatures looked like something out of his nightmares. They stood over six feet tall, not that tall, but compared to him it was. Each was made of a very hard rock material, so if it tipped he would be crushed, and the things were no coloured at all. They held a sword and a shield each, the sword pathetic and rusted, while the shield was cracked all around.

A pair of demoniac horns positioned on each of their heads, beady black eyes portrayed an aura of evil, and that grin? Woo, all around its mouth area it was rocky and rubble, except around the grin. A smooth surface was right there, and pointed teeth poured out the edge. This set of creatures was round at the top, moving down to a center platform at the end of it, and around the waist area it had numerous horizontal crests.

"Come on, Linky. I'll help you push it, I mean unless you want to wait for some more of those babies to come back." She thought he might think they were too heavy for him, though she sort of doubted it.

"I can handle them." He smiled, biting his lip and pulling back the thoughts that those stupid statues were ugly.

"But can you handle the alcohol." She sneered.

Leaping over the edge of the platform, he pushed upon the right statue, which easily moved up a few feet. This new bracelet was seemed to be a lifesaver. Not only did it let him pick up those heavy explosives, but he could also move large blocks and stuff. Pushing the statue to the end of the platform, he changed directions and began to push it left, towards the switch in the center. This switch was just like the on in the Deku Tree (the underwater switch), but now he got a full view at it. A deep azure, it was, about two feet across and a bolted up a foot in the air. In the center was a small crescent moon, the same as on the blocks, with a star at the ending and beginning of the moon.

The statue fit finely, because when he placed it on the switch, climbed up, and walked to the door was when the bars didn't go crying down. Navi hovered right at his hat, smiling a little. "See, it's not scary."

"Yea, as long as it doesn't come to life, I am fine with it." How little did he know about it, maybe the future would come and haunt him back.

_--------------------_

An overwhelming hiss of steam spread across his face, when the two entered this room. Staring forward, they were about inside the volcano, it was like a verbal fire utopia in this place. Small little isles stretched across the sea of lava, but I wouldn't stay isles, more like stepping-stones. Each was in a pentagonal shape, about four feet around over all, revealing the huge land in this place. The room itself was in the shape of a rough pentagon, the shape was a disadvantage, too many places to jump.

"Navi?" Of course the flames frightened him, it always would, probably, not that he was particularly scared of it, it was just that flames burnt.

"Don't fall, that's all I am saying. Do not fall down."

Eight small stepping-stones were all around. The one he entered the door from, six in the middle, and the ending one, which had a door that, led to another passageway. No way out of here, except forward. Bracing himself, the Deku Shield went up in defense from the heat, knowing it wouldn't do any good. No magma was boiling, or overflowing, but the steams were sure to leave a mark in themselves. Finally taking a few steps forward, Link stopped dead in his tracks from the sound of a squawking sound, except it wasn't the sound a bird made.

It was the sound of something else, the kind that made you look, not a sound you could ignore. There were some sounds you could simply dismiss, as the wind playing tricks, this was not one. Not really a squawk, yet that is the best way to describe the sound, like a dying bird was screaming. Staring to the left and right, since the north was so far away, he spotted two figures staring at him, each squawking. They were a duo of beasts, and from the looks upon them, they were more deadly than anything in this dungeon--well at least he got his wish.

"Navi, what are those!" The high-pitched voice screeched out. Usually his voice wasn't a scream, but these guys definitely scared him, especially when they came into visual view.

Each stood a good seven feet high, green all over, but with a very muscular body. From the looks of it, they were evolution dinosaurs, of some sort; these had a lot more evolution than the Dodongos. The creatures stood on two legs, well claws is a better word, because razors were upon each of their appendages in a five-fingered manner, with four on the legs. A jaded green tail, matching the scaled skin, whipped around in mutilating fashion with that long blushed tongue, and sun coloured, reptilian eyes. If that wasn't the worst of it, both left hands of each creatures was a beautiful broadsword.

The hilt a dull gray, but a streaming splash of silver stood out at least five feet in fashion. The next and final piece of destruction was that the creatures were wearing a simple piece of body armour. No, not body armouries, something more of a vest that protected just the upper region, covered the groin, and on the right shoulder blade was a rogue ending with four sharp spikes. Not very noticeable was a red sheath, metal made obviously, to hold the sword, perhaps?

"…I-I don't know, Link, get ready. This is going to be a real test; these things look like actual fighters. From now own, you've only been fighting monsters. These maybe monsters, but they are intelligent ones!" Sparkling an angry blush, Navi stayed at his head-level, whispering. "Guard and hit the open spaces, and I thin hit where the stomach is, Linky. I need you to promise me to do well, does your arm ache?"

"No, it's fine." Turning towards the farie, he was smiling, and cupped her down in his palms, kissing her softly. "I will make it, there maybe two, but they seem like they wouldn't gang up on me. Alone I can take them out."

Nodded, she quickly added, as she spoke, she prayed she would do whatever she would to protect him. "I will target one individually, you aim wherever I light up yellow at, alright?"

"Yea, here comes on." It seemed Link was right, either that or they were too stupid to realize that. Maybe not as advanced as we thought? The platform they were positioned on was the largest of the eight, so this was a perfect battleground. This pentagon stretched out more than twelve feet, enough room for him, but maybe not enough for these creatures.

_--------------------_

The two were smelt five miles away, sensei had sent them too take care of what these idiot Dodongos couldn't take care of. Sure the sensei made the offspring, but they weren't as advanced as them or him, now were they? These new ones, the bigger one in more aspect, were now frightening them. How did he find his way through the puzzles, handle the Goron's special crop, and dodge the Beamos? The sensei didn't have answers, all he wanted was to kill them, so the best was were with swords, since he used them.

Lizalfos were the name of this beautiful race, approved from the evolution of the ancient dinosaurs, the runners of the dinosaurs. Skilled in swordsman ship, the major could taste the fear of when the young boy saw them. They had been talking about how to gut him, since he was in the next room taking care of some business. When the door opened and all had been lost to this young creature. Flicking the rose-coloured tongue towards his comrade, a position to stay, the Lizalfo leapt from platform to platform for the young creature. It looked like they were going to show honor to the boy and attack him one-on-one, a fatal mistake, although the two didn't see it.

Agility was a great specialty for these creatures, so easily the experienced warrior found its way to the larger path. Stupid of the boy, he should have picked a smaller one for a better chance of falling off. Then again, he didn't guess this race was too smart. Those Gorons sure weren't, they ate rocks! Snapping his beak shut, he wouldn't need it until after the kill, the Lizalfo unsheathed the broadsword from his packet.

That was when he peered at the young creature taking out a dagger, and a protector made of wood. Another protector was upon his back, one that would prove worthier, but maybe the creature wanted to die? Whatever the case, he squawked to his companion this wouldn't take long, launching at the boy a few seconds later. The dagger was longer than the boy's sword, though when they smashed together, they could be linked together. Only a few inches longer, it wasn't even enough to make that much of a difference in the battle.

--------------------

She wouldn't let this happen, because that was not the way things were supposed to be. Luckily, for her, Link jumped when the blade slammed down, pulling out his slingshot and shooting a bullet at the enemies' head. Unfortunately, for them both, the thing dodged and rammed at Link. Impa had given Navi a new ability, that was to register the enemy and find it's weakness. So far, she had found out that it was a Lizalfo and it's weakness was that the area below where the armour wasn't stored. Nothing real useful at all, but she yelled out its name, that was better to know who he was fighting.

"It's a Lizalfo, Link. Guard it, the Deku will hold!" Well, she didn't know what for sure, for broadswords were never used against any Deku materials. To prevent the other monster from back-attacking Link, Navi guarded the areas where he was, but incidentally went around the lizard, fluttering a bright sunshine.

_--------------------_

The next few moments counted on luck, the stroke of luck was going to count on him if he survived. If the wood broke, the blade would slice through and cut him in half, but if the blade held, that was when Link would strike. Following its movements, as the monster leapt back and forth upon the isles, headed for him, he heard his guardian yell out the monster's name. _Lizalfo?_ Whatever this creature was, he was taking it out in a few seconds. Gripping the shield with his left hand, raising it up into the air, Link bit his lip silently, crying out to the Goddesses.

If they truly wanted this quest to end, then it would, but if they believed in him was when he survived. Iron from the broadsword slammed into the children of the Deku Tree. The crimson insignia began to shimmer when the blade slit on the head of the shield, but nothing cut through. Nothing cut through because the blade was pushed back by Link's strength. Jumping forward, Link blocked the blade from its position, knocking the creature completely out of balance. Out of balance was the time to strike, so he did.

Precious Kokiirish blade from Farore shined brightly when an uppercasing gesture slit into the beast's stomach. The blood that poured from the gut was enough that it would probably fill Link's entire body up. He wasn't sure how much these creatures could carry, though his guts were most likely ripped out. Fortunately, not on the sword, or the kid would have been sick, the blood was bad enough to deal with in this battle. A screech of pain erupted from the monster, and instead of jumping away, it leapt over his head with the broadsword moving towards his skull.

A small chi light intercepted the blade, throwing it out into the lava below. When the smoke cleared Navi was right above the creature's head, yelling to Link. "Get it now!"

Chuckling quietly, Link threw the sword towards the narrow of head, feeling the burst of fresh blood that coated all around his body. He had no idea why he laughed, it just seemed more appropriate, for this order was almost over. He had a good feeling the battle was already won, though not even halfway over yet. When the sword connected with the skull the immediate skull and brain matter gushed forward in a panic frenzy. Quickly shielding his eyes with the Deku, blood coated the thick hide of shelter, staining the thing completely, but this was when the light on the shield shined down to its original colour.

Navi quickly retrieved the dagger, throwing it at the frenzied Link, not to hit him, but lightly. She knew he would get it, from the way he acted, this seemed to be a little better than his old self. The hero wasn't acting as immature as he usually was, the determination was like with Gohma. He caught it with ease, turning towards the other Lizalfo that was heading towards his region. This one wouldn't be so easy, he thought, because the monster had seen the tactics from before.

_--------------------_

She begged to differ, this creature would be must easier, because this creature was at a distance. Hovering ahead of him, she spoke to Link. "I am going to blind him when he arrives, go for the neck…"

"All right." The blood shed had become more immense, that show presented itself self-evident.

A few seconds later, the creature arrived with its sword drawn, but a sense of fear plastered across its face. Yes, this tyrant had seen just what the duo were capable of, especially too one of its own, and that very much frightened it. It seemed that leaving the boy to fight with one of them was bad, though it was too late. There would be no going back, especially when the fairie was beginning to do something for the monster. Time was of the essence, and Navi shot a thick beam into each of its eyes.

Screeching went forward, along with Link jumping into the air, slinging the sword in the middle of the mutated dinosaur's forehead. This time more blood gushed from the open wounds, but Link luckily back-flipped to Navi, ten feet away. Fastening his hands inside the shield, curiously wondering to the two corpses, Link kicked each of them inside of the hot, boiling lava. Hisses were head, as he leapt across each tiny platform, coming to a rest to the newest door. It seemed bars had been set from before, however, they weren't there now. Those two had been booby traps, someone had set them, and that someone was very peeved they had survived.

_--------------------_

The scene had a lot of trauma on the hero, it wasn't seen, because it held it inside for Navi, but when they reached the scene of the next room, he broke down with a slumping motion against the door. Throwing the sword aside accidentally slit the throat of an arriving Business Deku Scrub. These were the beings that sold you items right after you beat them at the test of reflecting nuts, but that wasn't the case now. Not even noticing, nor caring, the little boy threw the Deku Shield aside a few feet, curling up, sobbing down and hard. "I killed them!"

"No, no! Yes, you did kill them, but you had too. They were going to kill you!" Falling at his side, Navi flashed the veil off and revealed himself to her once more. Usually it was glimpses, or when they were talking in the dark, but now were more important than ever. Completely shedding the masque, the young farie walked along the ground to his face, cupping her hands in his cheeks and slapping them playfully. "Stop that, I say. I want you to be brave for me."

Staring up, he caught a glimpse at her, nodding helplessly. In the veil she was easily bigger than his hand, but in this form she could fit in his palms exactly. A pocket farie was a nice word for her. Bigger than the spites by all means and the healing faries, but smaller than the legendary Great Faries. Looking aside, he sat himself up, watching her flutter up to him with those two pairs of wings that connected to her back, splitting out the back of her behind. Navi was dressed in ravishing shawl that wrapped around her body, but under that was a matching dress of the cerulean colour. Clearing his throat, the blush creeping to his face, he spoke. "I don't know, Navi. I just-just realized I killed, and…what's worse is I liked it!"

"Good! You need to triumph in your victories, Link. I want you to be glad you won, show them no mercy, but do not torture them. Put them down for good. Remember what these animals did to the Gorons."

Yes, those poor Gorons. What happened to them was inhumane and terribly injustice. Their deaths need be avenged for the horrible ways they died, he could just imagine what happened. These creatures are only dinosaurs, dinosaurs that Ganondorf brought back, that evil man. And of course the name just made him shiver, that horrible man with the name Ganondorf! Gripping his bare fist tightly, he stared off into the night. This new room was pitch black, with dripping sounds of some underwater cavern around. Some light was present, maybe moonlight. "It's always going back to him."

"Him? You mean Ganondorf?"

"Yes…" Voice just shaking, he slammed his fist into the bare wall, looking back to Navi. "We have to stop him, kill him or something. He is not stopping this insanity.

"I completely agree. It is your responsibility to eliminate him." There was nothing more left, the princess didn't seem to matter, taking care of this man was what she needed to help him do.

Quietly, but assertively, he contradicted. "It is not my responsibility." At this time, he brought her close to him, staring into her eyes, his cheeks still flushing.

"Then whose is it?" She stared back; her entire body was glowing red. It was really shown through her pale skin, she almost wanting to pull the veil up, but somehow knowing it was the wrong thing. Sitting on her behind, she watched as he pressed their faces closer and closer, until his nose touched hers.

"It is your responsibility also." He smiled, giggling.

Her eyes widened, and she shook her head, lying down upon her stomach. Arms were propped up in a fashion so she could still stare him fragrantly in the eyes. Mm, his fragrance smelt of a sweet soap, so nice she couldn't help but moan. "I am not that important."

"Yes you are, don't kid yourself. I need you and you know it. I'm nothing without you, I never really was. I've always needed someone, but I like it that way. I need you…and I hope you need me. This responsibility is of ours." Nodding his head softly, he watched her response, hoping he had done good in helping her overcome her helplessness.

_Oh! Every time I see him, I fall more and more in love!_ Staring back at him, she nodded her head. "I do need you, Linky. No one else matters, but you!" Leaning forward, she kissed the tip of his nose, returning to her position.

"As are you…" Placing himself up, Link took out his satchel, setting Navi on his shoulder, and began to clean himself off. First came the blood off the shield, the blood from the sword (after retrieving it from the carcass of the scrub), and finally his clothes. Nothing had dangled his bandage, which was great for him, so within twenty minutes he was all set to go. No strength had been lost from the last battles, as quick as tried to be, so he gave Navi one of those little heart drinks, sharing half with her.

Re-fixing his hat, the little pink farie he also watched to see if she was still at his own side. Grumbling uncomfortably (for she had just awoken) Fiija went at Link's ear, hanging off of it. Navi sat on the top part of his cap, and they were all set to go. Returning his sword and shield to the correct fixations in his hands, Link left the small little room into the next. No door was actually present, but only a little path that led into much more darkness. Like before, past fears returned, but they were conquered when he ran through the pitch-blackness.

_--------------------_

An almost identical room was presented at the last, except a few new reasons were added to his worry. For one, there were many pillars in the center of the room (possibly hiding enemies), some torches that were probably a trap to open the next door, and Dodongos. These weren't as small as the babies weren't, either; these Dodongos were possibly the mothers of the smaller ones. Each Dodongo eight feet across, and if standing on the tip of their tail would reach up that far. Forest-coloured scales shimmied across hits muscled body, but the from the mouth of barred teeth it changed to a darker gray.

Staring at the creature, with the eight-inch spike leading off of her forehead, Link gulped sadly while staring forward. "How shall I answer this one?"

"These creatures have armour, the babies didn't. There is armour everywhere, except the tail. Try hitting the tail. The only other alternative would be getting it from the insides." Giggling, Navi fluttered over to the active Dodongo. She hadn't seen the group yet, so she continued to hunt through the damp corridor for food.

Pulling out his slingshot, Link took aim and fired a seed directly into the left light blue eye of the Dodongo. The Dodongo really did mean dinosaur, since the creature resembled more than anything else, or a reptile. A screech of pain hit his ears, sounding just as back as the bomb, but instead of recoiling back, the Dodongo stared him down. Barring herself for a fight, she held her breath for a few seconds, before unleashing out in a gasping impact. Instead of some bad breath coiling out, laps of flames came out.

His eyes widened, jumping to the left, while slamming into a wall, but that was the least of his problems! Seeing an opening, he yelled to Navi. "Stay on her!" When his guardian lowered right above its face, Link jumped forward in a slashing motion. Two hands, having dropped the shield now held the blade, when the impact sliced into the tail. She spun around, knocking him with what was left of the tail, throwing him against one of the pillars while preparing to breathe up fire. That's right, he took the whole thing off. All that stood was a small stump wavering back and forth in fury.

_--------------------_

Navi grasped the Deku shield, throwing it right at the Dodongo's skull. She stopped the puffing breath, turning to see nothing, and with a cry of frustration breathed fire into the air, as if trying to kill a stealthy enemy. Appearing right at the tail, she looked over at Link, who nodded and sliced the blade right at the new area that had appeared. Yes, a new area right where the tail was appeared to be beating. Crimson was all around, so she guessed it was the monster's heart. "Must be her shield, slice it!" At this time, she darted behind the creature and gathered the Deku shield for Link, so he wouldn't forget it.

The reaction was one of a dying creature, because as soon as the steel sliced the delicate feature, the thing began to convulse and shake all around. Her body slumped to the ground; a bright red aura appeared around her, like the baby Dodongo, which gave time for Link to grab Navi and dive for an area of cover. As it just happened, another Dodongo was wondering where the dying one was. Without hesitation, she took off in a direction for help, but was stopped when the dying creature's blast knocked her own heart out of balance, resulting in two blasts.

He ran into another one of that stupid Dodongos. Stupid was literally put, because as he threw a bomb flower down at the creature, knowing it wouldn't work, and he was surprised the dinosaur ate the bomb. That resulted in its insides being blown apart by the huge explosion, killing it in under a few seconds. Navi handed the shield to the boy, who in turn, thanked her and put it back on his left hand, holding it steady.

"…Those things are stupid." Navi agreed, chuckling with him and ran forward noticing how the torches conditions were around the room.

No need to use those Deku Sticks, because the blast from the Dodongos created a chain reaction of blasts that lit each of the torches. They were literally a fire in their own, as if a match was stuck when the monsters self-destructed. When he heard a slinging metal sound, Link raced across three Dodongos (jumping across the bodies, for they were asleep), and headed to the doors before the bars shut from the lack of fire on each torch. When he passed through the newer door, Navi slumped on his shoulder, staring off into space. "Do you think there is a king?"

"I don't know. You think there is a king, like they said. " Link complied, looking forward, he didn't know how he knew, the language had somehow computed inside of his mind.

"They said sensei." Yea, she had known the same thing, as if the language of the dinosaurs had been drilled into their minds. Though the two didn't discuss it, it as if the duo didn't know they couldn't understand them.

"What's that?"

"Sensei means master. Like a teacher, or mentor. Either there is a king, or there is a master." Looking with Link, Navi gasped. "Look!"

It wasn't a new room; they were in that room they couldn't reach before, almost thirty minutes ago. Time had soon passed upon this dungeon, it was better to go this way, the timing of the dungeon just seemed stupid, he'd be done when was done. Gasping after Navi, Link ran forward, jumping on a small switch, like the blue one from before, but this one didn't require automatic weight and was a tannic colour. A clicking sound shut off, and from across the pits and pillars from before, Link saw a door with bars show itself to them.

He sat upon the edge of the walled room, and slid down the twenty feet ahead of there. Landing down in a curled roll, as the Deku Scrub said from before, Link only had a few scratches upon his body. Putting the shield up, he ran forward and jumped across the tree platforms to the next room. The Beamos was at the other end of the room, it seemed to be distracted at the moment with something else. Thank Goddesses, so there was no need for a confrontation from it. Navi interrupted his thoughts.

"A chest."

"Where?" He turned towards it and just as luck would have it, a large chest was right past the Beamos. Cursing his luck, the lad slid past the Beamos, right under its nose, and came to the chest. Pulling the steel rimmed box open, another one of those old maps was imprinted on it. "A map!"

"Yea, now slid past the Beamos again." Of course, he did it again, because those Beamos weren't that smart at all. They did not even bother to look up or down. Since Link couldn't jump over the Beamos, he crawled under it this time, making an easy escape.

He just ran forward to the giant door, slamming his fist upon it, which in response slid open and showed down another dark corridor. It was actually lighter, but the next room confused him. There was a new room ahead lighted very heavily, more of like that there was some weird torch in there. The room led up into the second floor, but there was a problem. Bomb flowers were stridden around so if he took one wrong step then it was time to die.

Navi fluttered away from the flowers, coming to a new entrance to a room. "Right here, let's try this door first." The brand-new room was unlocked, and Link walked inside the new room. At the end of the hall was a similar giant chest, like before, but this one was positioned between three of those statues. Walking forward, Navi slid past the statues and opened up the chest, there was one of those small blue machines from before.

"What is that, Navi?"

"A compass, we were going to get one last time, but the trap. Now, this tells you where important items are in this dungeon, but not what they are." Throwing the compass forward, it bounced off the top figure, ricocheting into the boy's arms. Rolling the map up, with the compass tucked inside, Link stuck the tools under the waistband of his side pack.

"Good, now we don't have to wonder." As he turned around, something pushed into his body. Not into, but slammed so hard against him, a little trickle of blood slid down the side of his arm, where the wound was. Falling forward, a strange sound interrupted the atmosphere.

"Link, the statue's alive!" Floating right beside him, she checked him off, and dashed back to the monster's head, hovering over it.

Spinning around, only the shield in his hand, he stared down to the beast deep into the eyes. The exact same statue as before, from the baby Dodongo's room, but this time around it was tanner than usual. The stone had changed into the form of skin, was his only conclusion, which explained the darker complextion for the grayer one. Those beady eyes shown a blood red through them, while the sword stuck out for his blood. He didn't even need a warning, for he leapt forward, grabbing his guardian, and rushed out of the room with his new items stuck inside his pack.

When the edges of the doors shut, two more screams erupted. He must have woken up his buddies. Pounding against the door commenced for another ten minutes, until the creatures returned to the hidden chest and returned to their normal state. The group inched away from the door, wondering back into the other one. On closer inspection, the room seemed easier than before. In the center of the room was a huge platform that hung fifteen feet in the air, with stairs at the end. No easy access to that entrance, but at the base of the platform were Bomb Flowers spreading across the left and right sides? The only problem was that there was a spot in the middle for them to connect.

"…Maybe a chain reaction would work. Navi?"

"Very good, Link. Ah, look!" She had illuminated a brighter blue towards two Bomb Flowers that sat at the base of the door they just came out of. "If you put this in the center, then the bomb will go off and signal the others for a reaction that will rumble the base of the stairs. Of course, it may collapse and kill us both."

Chuckling, he gathered up the left bomb, placing it in the center, then throwing the right bomb on top of it. Running down the hallway of the statue-room, he ducked down on his hands and knees holding his ears for the impact. This was the time the small sprite circle around his ear and healed it, for if she hadn't, then Link would have gone deaf. There were forty Bomb Flowers that went off, in total, each one including the impact bigger than the rest. Now, this added up with the balance of the structure falling fifteen feet, making up the entire explosion to that of an avalanche. For a few seconds, Link couldn't even hear, but then the smoke cleared and his hearing returned. Staring up…he saw Navi right beside him, shivering.

"Are you all right!" He was screaming because his hearing hadn't fully returned.

Yea! It just hurt my hearing a little, that was a first!" She nodded, a little bit and waited it out, she knew it wouldn't take very long to return back.

"Want to wait a few minutes! Our hearing will return!" He nodded.

Nodding, Navi and him walked out of the room ten minutes later, with ears back to normal. The sprite had disappeared; it seemed she had used up her power, which sadden him deeply. "Did she die?"

"I told you, Link, they return to the Great Farie…"

"Oh. Hee, yea!" From staring up, he saw the platform had indeed dropped fifteen feet, but that didn't matter since the thing went up forty feet. Bracing himself, the two climbed the stairs (they were actually giant's stairs, so they climbed up each step). There were about forty steps in all, so the group spent two hours climbing up the entire flight of stairs, maybe It wasn't forty feet, and Link had misjudged his own trajectory. Upon reaching the top, he sat down and watched the new level of walking. This room was a square, like the last, with familiar planks that led to the other end. Small little spider webs hung on the wall, and Link could hear the familiar clicking of those monsters from the Great Deku Tree.

"Left or right?"

"Left." She fluttered up the path, checking for monster's, with an eager Link following her with his sword drawn in his left hand. The protecting Deku was placed back in his satchel, with the flap open if he needed easy access. The entire brace was just a ruse, because when they reached the end of the hall, nothing was there aside a door at the end of the planked wood. Stepping through the door, he ran into an empty hall way, a rest spot. Sinking to the ground, he threw his equipment on the ground, slipping down into slumber land.

"Link! Get up!" Searching around the room, she spotted some plants, and threw them at the boy. _Nothing_. He was out cold for the night. Growling, she searched the room for supplies, finding some more seeds, and heart containers. Gathering them up, Navi went by his side, guarding him while he slept. Not that it lasted long, soon after she was slumped at his side, unconscious.

_--------------------_

What were these two doing, the figures seemed to be resting at some spot, but what was going on? He inspected them from the special device that the man in black had given him, the dark man. Yes, the man had revived him and his people from the dead, and then given him this special device. He said that it was too watch anyone that would enter his domain, the man even scared the huge dinosaur. Now, however, there was this pipsqueak Kokiiri and a little sprite in his cavern, he would take care of them.

Yes, he would wait until the little one got to his section of the cavern, then he would feed on it and him and the sprite. Hot flesh in his mouth, not like that nasty Goron flesh, would be a nice change from the regular meal of Armos, Beamos, and Kesse. The monster watched throughout the device as the little one slept, the bigger one was the best. It looked tastier, he could say so much for that, and would be the first that his teeth would pierce open in the bloody juices that flowed. Yes, you shall sleep your last, Kokiiri, for when you get to the King Dodongo, you shall perish. Chuckling silently, the monster slammed its fist into the device, cutting it into pieces.

_--------------------_

_Seven hours later, he awoke to the smell of peacefulness. Was he dead? Was the adventure over? Yes, the boy had been eaten in his sleep, and now he was resting with the Goddesses. Staring up, he saw three beautiful women before him, each with a multiple colours of hair he had never seen. One, the colour of Malon's hair, one the colour of Saria's hair, and the last the colour of his eyes. Each was adorned in a long white dress, with the Triforce on each of the dresses. On each of the Triforces, a different piece was brighter than all the rest; for instance the top was brighter on the red head, the green wore the left, and the blue wore the left piece more illuminative. _

What is it?_ He wondered, staring up at them, he heard the voices of each, yet their mouths didn't move. _

Thou must go on, Hero of Time _The green-haired one spoken, she seemed somewhat closer to him, as if they came from the same land. The redhead just smirked with her arms crossed over her breast, while the blue haired one nodded her head softly. _

Go on? I am dead. _He simply shrugged his shoulders, he was dead and the world was at peace, at least in his mind._

_Doesn't be silly, young one, thou art alive._ Leaning closer to him, all three of them kissed a piece of his forehead, chanting out his name. _Link, Link, Link._

_--------------------_

"Link! Link, get up!" She fluttered right above Link's nose, slapping his cheeks softly, but was thrown aside as he woke up with a yawn.

"Hmm…ohh, how long have I been asleep?" He pondered out loud and stared at her, since he had asked, he expected an answer from her.

"Seven hours."

"S-seven hours? Why did you let me sleep that long!"

"Because I slept that long," She giggled a little, shrugging her shoulders a little bit, the two of them did need the rest, it seemed from the way he acted, he was better now.. "Now, we need to go on, all right?"

Raising himself up, he brushed the dirt from his tunic, this entire place seemed a filth-hole. Picking up his equipment, Link walked to the other side of the safe-room, pushing the door open and walking through it. Seeing that they were in a brand new room was just two doors (one he came out of), and a new one at the other side all barred up. A small platform in the center held the switch at the top, but unfortunately was guarded by four Armos on each side. The ones from before, he felt a little shiver cross from him as he stared at the stone statues, which could probably change into flesh.

"Tempt it?" His voice wavered, trying to say soft, as not to wake them up, hoping they weren't asleep, but inanimate..

"Want me to carry you."

"If you can. Would you mind?"

"Not at all, Link." Grabbing him by the collar, Navi flew him over the statue-creatures, sitting him on the switch. The doors clanked open, and jumping off the platform, Link ran to the door leaving those creatures behind. Heh, he would probably have dreams about living statues for weeks.

A familiar room? They were in the Dodongo-skull room, but instead on the top level. "We did it!"

"Sure did. Wow, you had better watch out. The bridge doesn't look sturdy" That was true, the huge bridge stretched from the beginning of the room they had came out of, and stopped at the end of the upper level Link had viewed earlier. That's a long way to fall… he said silently to himself. Breathing heavily, the shield came back out, pushing the sword back into the holder. "Ready?"

"Yea, I see no immediate dangers, Link. Good idea to keep the shield out." Moving ahead of him, she went first, while he trailed behind. Every now and then there was a loose board, or one that was completely gone, and she would warn the boy so he could hop over it. That went on for a long while, because it seemed the higher up they got, the wider it got. The group walked the bridge a full ten minutes, before the real action started.

Flying towards them, the creature knocked Navi aside, and ran for Link, it seemed to be the target. Even more badly than before, the fear was shown in Navi as she was literally thrown aside. Everything was lost when the thing came, she was sure it was one of those bats from before, just a bit different. It was a good thing that the monster didn't touch him, the gust of its wings seemed to do it. This wouldn't have been a problem for Link, except this monster was on fire, a blaze in a flow of flames.

"Kesse, elemental! Duck, Link!"

Staring up, it was the same bat as he had seen from inside the graveyard, but this one was ablaze. Yes, the creature was on fire and hovering towards him, knowing that this was all just for a showmanship. The shield was useless, so he rolled forward upon the bridge; almost losing his balance that would surely bring him a bone-smashing death, or a fiery. Now, don't those sound nice? Smashing the mark on target, Link rolled forward and jumped up running for the other end.

The creature followed him all the way to the end of the bridge, which was evidently its death sentence, because once it reached the end of the bridge it met steel. Link had been waiting at the end of Rope Bridge, sword drawn, and slashed the thing in half, then to bits. The sword was protected against fire, so it didn't become affected, but he did get a little hot being so close to it. With a conflict finished, he still kept the sword drawn, exploring the platform. There was another bridge that lead to a smaller chest, but the bridge was so broken up he dared not attempt it. Plus, it was across a ledge 20 feet away. Something about the bridge intrigued him for there was a headstone over there. They would work their way over there, because Navi couldn't carry Link that far.

"This platform is small." Navi had witnessed the battle, amazed at how much of a tactician that he had become. Congratulating him for the victory, she stared down the brightened hallway and the steel door that lay ahead. "Come on, now. Let's finish this already."

Nothing of interest was around, so Link headed down the door, letting it open itself and welcome himself inside. Inside was a great way to be, she was even gladder that he had sunk himself into that place. This place would take him even further and further into the land, hopefully the end was near. A pit was at the end of the room, a real pit, or a lower region in the room. Taking the small ladder down into the deeper layer of the cavern, Link heard the sound of metal rustling, slamming against the wall just in time.

"Link! Are you all right!" Navi was quickly back at his side, watching that little torture that tore the hem of his tunic.

A small little machine (reaching in height, to Link's ankles) slid across the path, and returned to its resting-place. The little mechanism was not all that way wide either, so light, in fact that he would be able to hold it. All though the fact of the matter was that the black structure was condemned with metal spikes. Yes, blades of all kinds stuck out of the machine, streaming in six different directions. Looking at it, the trap slid forward again, missing him all together this time, but giving him that queasy feeling in his stomach.

"I-is that an monster?" Link asked desperately, if it was, he wouldn't be able to get a hit on it.

"No…it's a trap. I hear no signs of life, so it is a trap. All right, leap."

"Leap! Are you crazy!"

"Leap, now. Climb up the ladder a little and leap forward. See the platforms?"

Yes, there platforms hanging around, the spike was only guarding one thin hallway, so if he leapt forward then he could hide in-between the structures from it (and maybe more) or the similar machines. Nodding, Link scaled five feet up the red ladder, gave a thumbs-up to Navi and jumped forward. The scrape of metal sounded again, but this time it seemed far away when Link sailed over the small trap, landing on his behind at the other side. Going to the other side, he peered over a little and spied another one of those traps. Reaching into his pocket, he threw out a nut. The Deku nut startled the machine to go that way, which Link passed by into another set of structures.

"Good, you are doing it!" She yelled from afar, rejoining him a few seconds later before she spoke out once more. "I saw six more of these columns, so you are going to have to do it a little more."

"Sure, no problem, I have enough nuts."

Some of the columns they went under were short enough to reach if he stood on something, and others reached the wall with no ceiling to climb on. No ceilings to climb on was a bad thing, incase the boy made a wrong movement and lost his balance. Five nuts later, he was at a place with another one of those huge rocks, the ones with the crescent moons, pushed into the wall. The thing was pushed into the wall, so even if he had the strength, he couldn't pull it out. Slumping against it, the farie came to his side.

"What to do…what to do. There is a ladder up there." Speaking aloud, to her. Also, it was ten feet in the air, so he couldn't latch on it.

"Try pulling it out, Linky." She motioned that it couldn't hurt to try, it was better than sitting there and doing nothing.

"I can't, remember last time?" He nodded.

"And you have powered up twice in that time. I think four pieces of hearts powers you up just as the blue light does. Now try it."

"…All right, but I am warning you."

To his surprise (but not Navi's), his own limits were surpassed and there he smiled and let out a squeal. "Hee! I did it!"

At least it slid out four feet, enough for him to climb on and search the way around for a new way. The new passage meant that the closer and closer they came, the further it was away from the entrance. The entrance was his weak point, he wanted to reach the end so that he could prove himself to her. There was a small column he could jump on. Leaping forward, his digits pressed into the top of the platform, pulling him on the five-foot wide thing. Standing up, a Bomb Flower was to his left, while the door-passage was north of him.

"It's blocked!" Yes, the door was covered with one of those barriers that you bombed, but no where to put the explosion, except a measly one foot!

"Try to make the ladder." Navi suggested, fluttering around the huge black explosive.

"What? What do you mean?" He asked curiously.

"Throw the bomb and try to make it slid where the ladder meets the door. It's either that or hold it a few extra seconds, hoping it doesn't blow, and throw it at the wall." She stated nodded a little bit and there she watched to see if he was going to follow his little advice.

No answer was needed, and he yanked the bomb and threw forward utterly missing. Frowning, he waited a minute for the bomb to regenerate, balancing his wait, and launching it at the ladder. The bomb fell down to the large block and blew that to pieces, the block was gone into smaller pieces. Pushing further and further, the wall collapsed until a passageway was revealed before him. It was a perfect fit when the wall was gone, only the smoke from the bomb was clearing itself off.

"Perfect, Link!" A few seconds later, the bomb blew up shattering the barrier. Navi floated at his ear, somewhat amazed. "It's stopped."

"What has?"

"You're hearing. It is fixed, now, Link. You are adjusted to the blasts."

"Oh…you are right." Shrugging his shoulders, the lad jumped the estimated feet from the ledge of the platform to the new room. When he landed, he ran forward, ignoring the darkness, for the darkness was limited because all these puzzles were easy.

Crimson and orange flames came out of the next room, blowing forward so that it hid his vision. It was so bright that it felt as if Din herself was in the way, holding the flames and blocking him back. Blocking his eyes, the boy saw that this room consisted of a lower consisting of nothing, and a column in the middle that was held with flames. It was a good thing that there were no enemies, otherwise they could of gotten him earlier, a free shot. No other way forward, but there was a small diamond shaped headwork at the end of the room, an eye in the middle of the centerpiece.

"That must be a trap, Link, shoot it with your seed might extinguish the fire."

"Like the ladder from before…" He mentally spoke aloud, pulling out the sling and taking aim. The first seed missed, but the second hit the target right on schedule making the fire disappear. A ticking timer sounded, as if giving him limited seconds. Not even waiting to be misjudged by Navi, Link jumped upon the first platform, and jumped across to the next end. At the end, it was like the first room with the statues (the ones not alive); the surface was made of some weird black and red materials.

_--------------------_

Another group of those lizard-men appeared to Link in the next room, waiting for him. This didn't seem to be the same as last time, they even seemed to be unaware of their cousins demise. So that was where their cockiness seemed to have remained, the swords held tightly. It was basically a replica of the previous Lizalfo room, but with a waterfall of Lava at the end. More platforms to cross too, and one that led out to the end with no prizes at all.

The battle was through before it started, there was such a presence of him, he wasted no time. There wasn't no remorse like last time, he simply claimed he was doing his job, protecting her. Even the fight was a repetition of the previous one, for Link had the two monsters down in a matter of two minutes. With each with impaled wounds, he leapt across each of the islands, until stopping at the one where another door stood.

Another door, he wondered how many of them are there and how many were left for him to deal with? Frustrated, he smashed the hilt of the sword against the door, which in response, opened up.

"Hey, we're almost there, don't worry. Just take a look at the map, if you don't believe me."

"When did you read the map?"

"While you were passed out, we should only have two more rooms left."

Pulling out the map, he leaned against the wall with it spread and looked forward at the place. Yes, this was the third to last room, he felt it and had read it upon the map that is what it said. Another room with a similar trap was next, and then a room with some chests was situated. That compass worked wonders because it located where each of these things was. Throwing the compass into the lava, he rolled the map up and stuck it at back between the waistband around him. "You are right."

"Of course I am. You ready?"

"Yup." He put her under his hat to rest, saying. "You said you were tired, now take a quick nap. I can take care of the next two rooms."

"You sure?"

"Yes, ma'am." Reluctantly she slid under his hat to rest herself up for a fight, and of course there would be a fight. Always there would be a fight, for these dungeons had a master in themselves. Hopefully, this fight wouldn't end as bad as the last one did: with a stroke of luck. It was his anger that stopped the Gohma, but he weaker then.

_--------------------_

A remembrance of a previous puzzle did come up, as the map said, seemed that it was right. This time there were two platforms ablaze, the duos were just licking their own platforms, waiting for him. Shooting the eye again, the first platform out, but when Link crossed onto the first one, he saw an eye to his left. This eye was at the left wall, enclosed in a small box, with only one way to shoot in. Aiming precisely, the ticker still coming on, he nailed it in one shot. Second pillar of fire ended, and the boy leapt across this one and off onto the exit just as both pillars began to spit out fire once again.

That was his last puzzle, as the map showed, for the next room was a series of small ledges he leapt out, and crevices to pass over. When he finally reached the end (Navi being asleep about thirty minutes) he saw to his left were smaller platforms he could never balance on, but to his right was a series of stairs that led to the treasure. Giggling, he ran up the stairs, well climbing them, reaching the top of it, he yanked open the door. The same sensation of when he found the Farie Slingshot was overcome, for inside this chest was a larger bomb bag and thirty bombs.

Taking out the old bag, which only held twenty after some speculation, Link threw the older bag aside and attached this one right at his side with the bombs stuffed in them. The bombs felt special, they were even such more different than the rest of his weapons. More powerful, he knew the deadliness of them, and so he took care of everything in the bag. They were a bit smaller than the Bomb Flowers, and could only the size of his palms for mobile access. Slamming the chest shut, the boy ran out down the room and into the next one, the end of the line.

_--------------------_

"Maps like to lie!" Stomping his foot into the ground, Link stared over his position with disgust. He was basically over that twenty-foot jump, in the main hall, that had worried them nearly forty-five minutes ago. Shrugging a shoulder, the boy walked over to the small headstone pushed up out of the earth. A steel plate was set in the center of the tombstone, where carved writing was scratched in with what seemed like a rock. Bending at his knees, Link read the heading.

_Giant Dead Dodongo _

_When it sees red. _

_A new way to go _

_Will be open._

Does it mean red, as in the colour? I am assuming it means the huge skull, but the eyes are…black. "Red. Of course!" Nodding, he walked towards the long drawbridge, but on his way over stomped on a huge switch in the center of the platform. After a screeching sound of some machinery, the pillar that once stood on the first floor would now reach to the top of the second hall. This must be my way down… Moving over the bridge until he came to a part where a loose board was, Link kicked it out and pulled out the bomb.

The way the bomb worked was if you pressed on the fuse, it ignited and started to burn down the wick. Pressing on the mark, he threw it down the hole and watched it fall exactly on the right eye socket of the Dodongo's skull, and this presented itself of when the bomb exploded the eye turned crimson. Squealing, he moved over to another lose board and preformed the same task, but this time when the other turned red something different happened. Both eyes were red, sure, but the mouth of the Dodongo slammed open. He couldn't see what was down there, so running back over to the platform, he leapt upon it and let himself be taken down to the first floor. When the pillar stopped at the first floor, Link dodged the Beamos and ran up inside of the Dodongo. No traps were inside there, but only a hidden door, and walking enough distance so the Beamos didn't notice him, he awakened Navi, explaining to her what had happened.

_--------------------_

A few minutes later, she was inspecting the bombs for bugs (so they didn't ignite when he wasn't using them), and gave a quick nod. Link had already explained all the traps to Navi, and to her surprise how he figured out that complex puzzle in a matter of seconds, no matter how the difficulty. Floating at his side, she viewed the huge door inside of the skull, speaking to him directly. "All right, let's go. The map doesn't explain this area, probably because no one ever gets this far."

Nodding a quick approval of apparition, the lad ran forward inside of the Dodongo's mouth, walking where its throat was, and opening the door. With a simple kick, the steel plated door popped open, giving him access to a newly lighted room. Preparing himself for what was a puzzle (or so it looked), Link pulled his sword back into the sheath, while keeping the shield and slingshot handy. Stepping into the new room, the boy spotted two Kesse flurrying towards them, they were headed. The two of them did seem a threat close up, but far away, they were easier than any moving target..

He aimed and shot two seeds directly at the birds, taking them out completely, well with that knocked out, there seemed to be no more dangers. Just incase, he slipped the slingshot right under the waistband of his belt, and grabbed the map throwing it aside. There was no need for those things anymore. Enlightening his way forward, he noticed there was a four feet drop from when he entered, basically another pit, and dropping down he spotted four different directions to go. Barred walls blocked the north direction, the east was too tall to climb, the west about right, and the south was where he climbed out. In the center of the room was a group of submerged stones surrounding a small hole, in a square shape. After peeking inside, he saw a small blue switch from before, but after sitting on it and climbing out the bars of the room remained the same.

"Do we venture west?" His voice wavered a little, scanning the walls for Kesse, he was talking to no one but himself.

"Yes, let's do that, maybe we can find something to push forward and hold this switch down." It seemed she had come back from the sleep, though he was not worried, she was more powerful, he just knew it.

"Your right. Hee, you are so smart…" Throwing aside his fear, the boy walked to the east and climbed up the two feet to the wall. Settling him down, the paths were stonier than before, for when he ran down the darkened path (that was lit by a torch every now and then), and while this went on his eyes would scan all the stones around. Finally, a few minutes later, the light spread up and he entered a new room where another drop down was needed. Sliding down the two feet, Link stared forward at the existing room.

Heavily lighted by unknown sources, the room consisted of nothing except a wall that led ahead seven feet from where he stood. Up ahead were two Kesse, which he took out in a few slingshot targets, but aside that there seemed to be nothing to do. Heavily scanning the walls, he discovered there was a place to climb up that lead to the other side of the room, and with a the upbringing climb, the boy jumped down the small cliff that stood two feet high. Identical walls were aligned, as the other half of the room, except this time at the end of the hall was a pair of blocks from the room with the spikes.

Nothing was of importance of the stones, only for a descent procedure, and after some struggling he was on the other side of the third wall. The room in all contained two walls that separated the room except the small cliffs at the left and right ends of the room. In the center of this room was a door that contained the need to be bombed, and after doing so, he peeked in seeing a Armos, quickly slamming the door shut.

Jumping down with Link, Navi noticed that the path was blocked, yes the path they were supposed to take out of here was blocked. Frowning, she left his side and circle the blocks, getting a conjugation. "Link, the stones, match them up and push the other one over here. If you do that, we can pull the stone over here to where the exit is blocked, climb on it and push it aside."

Brilliant! These stones were a bit smaller than his previous ones, so after only two struggles, he had the stone pushed to the other side of the third passageway. Pulling the stone to the exit of this maze, centering it to Navi's configurations, he climbed up on top and pushed the stone away like a brick. If this had been the first quest of his, he wouldn't have been able to accomplish it, fortunately for them both it wasn't.

Not even bothering to push the stone with him, Link ran down a familiar looking stony path that led back to the room they couldn't climb up because it was so high up, and at the top of it was a stone like the ones from the previous room. Nodding, they both pushed the stone off the ledge, watching it fall down below into the room with barred doors. Hopping down on the stone, Link pulled it out from the wall, and went behind it pressing it towards the switch. A long distance, for this stone was a bit heavier than the others were, but eventually it slid in and like automatics, the barred door slid open. Sprinting at the direction, the doors slid upon the hinges, revealing the final door. The newly adjoined room was actually quite small, with nothing there. Only a floor that looked like it was about to collapse, and a chest in the middle. Staring down the red and white walls (which reminded him of a volcano as explained in the books), Link growled and slammed his feet into the surface.

"Where do we go?"

"I don't know--Link!" Grabbing him by the collar, the center of the room collapsed into another room. She realized that if she hadn't grabbed him when she had--because the room went down one hundred feet. All she could view down there was a red surface and the smoke that emitted from it. Placing him right infront of the chest, she leaned heavily on his shoulder.

"T-thanks, Navi." Poking the chest open, he found some more bombs, two more to be exact. Placing them inside his Bomb Bag, Link left it open for it. "I can bet this is going to be the monster's lair, the center of the volcano."

"I would imagine so." Groping him by the collar, she flew towards the center of the path, fluttering down the one hundred feet. When they were just five feet, she dropped him, so he landed quickly upon his feet with the sword and shield drawn for battle. Looking around the room was a mess, for in the center was molten lava quickening the pace of the room. Nothing was streaming, Thank Goddess, but if he just fell in. The room itself was oval shaped, so only a small path, about five feet wide stretched across the entire room.

"Navi, I don't see a boss."

"He has to be here somewhere."

_--------------------_

_It was about time! Ever since the machine had been destroyed, he regretted it now; the monster had been worrying that the boy might die. If he died, he wouldn't be able to taste the flesh of the Kokiirish. Mustering out a long growl, the monster was positioned right behind the two. What fools they were! Didn't they think to look behind themselves? Now would he just gobble him up, or play with his food a little? The answer was quite obvious: playing with your food always tenderized it. _

_Pulling on his four haunches, the tyrant deepened its growl, letting out one of the strongest war cries in the history of them. Soulless blue eyes stared down the boy, as he turned around, and that was when he saw the fear in the little one's eyes. Why shouldn't he be scared? He was, after all ten times the boy's size. This was a revenge mission, for all of his children were dead, or dying. Nothing was left except those stupid Beamos (and you couldn't kill those), so he stared the boy down. _

_--------------------_

"I really don't know, Link." Clicking her teeth together of fright, the growl had startled them. Looking from the left to the right, the two saw nothing.

"What was that…?"

"I don't know, now stop being a--" This time she was answered by the largest yell she had ever heard. Turning around, her little eyes gasped with fear, and all of a sudden she was glad the veil was on her. No one would ever see her fright.

Those little Dodongos didn't compare squat to this one. The creature stood over sixty feet tall (no wonder it couldn't get them earlier), with at least no green upon its body. A gray colour, mixed with a tan, was placed all over the scales, but upon his shoulders were some black and light green scales upon there. Well, scales are a bad word, because they were spikier than the rest of them. Like the other Dodongo, this one had a huge horn, but it was ten feet long and twice as sharp, showing scales upon its back were sharper than his blade.

This monster was even larger than ever, it resembled the rest of those, except a Mega-sized one. Four legs, instead of one, rolled upon is body holding up that great white belly along with that face? Two layers of teeth, big enough to swallow the other Dodongos, were stretched out in a yawn, and also a pair of larger fangs pressed out into the atmosphere. Those eyes had nothing but blue in the, showing off no affection or emotion, for that matter. A massive tail sprung back and forth after its rear, with enough force to impale them both in one turn.

"Link…turn around."

_--------------------_

"Did you find him?" Stumbling around, he spotted the tyrant, and this monster was nothing compared to Gohma. His heart stopped as the monster stared back at him, crying out once more. That was when the monster held its breath and began to spit out fire. Gathering Navi up, he held out the Deku shield for protection. How much trouble did that need to be? Well, we shall see.

The Deku wood designated into nothing, as the fires licked upon the ends of it. All the shield did was protect him from the fire, but when he threw it aside, some burn marks were scuffed on his hands. Staring up at the monster, he watched as it curled into a ball and began to fall towards him, and without knowing what to do, Link fell to his knees letting the shield take the impact of it. Yes, he would die; he was ready and prepared. Too cocky, he always got, why did he always get so God damned cocky!

_--------------------_

What a fool! First the shield didn't work, and now he plans to let the metal piece protect him? The monster bellowed silently, with a mental shrug of the shoulders. This was the best way to take him out; tenderizing was what the little Kokiiri needed. Letting out a snarling laugh, the monster rolled forward, curled up in a ball and flattened the surface of the shield. That should have been the end, it would have been the end, but it wasn't the end. Something was protecting him, because the shield began to light up, mainly the Triforces did. A special someone was protecting him, and the monster saw this. When it saw this, it covered its eyes from the light and began to circle away from them, running around the long circle to escape the light. Damn him!

_--------------------_

Am I dead? Looking up, his body was in perfect condition, there just had to be something wrong with this. With only one shield now, he drew his sword and kept his hands on the bombs, looking about. Well, what was the plan, boy, he thought to himself and wondered about what was going to happen? What would he do to kill this beast? It's shell was obviously too hard to pound on, but what about the insides? If only he could get something inside that shell, maybe something that would take it out into commission, or submission, he didn't know what. Frantically staring around, watching his fairie, he yelled out in fear.

"Navi! Have any ideas!"

"What about the insides, you saw when he began to breath fire. I think you might be able to throw a bomb in his mouth." There were bomb flowers surrounded them, but it was too risky to touch them, he trusted his own bombs more than any others.

"Yea, I see. And the bombs would blow up his insides?" Crazy enough to work, his fear still stayed in place, but the satisfaction of it was really making him feel fulfilled on the inside.

"It might take a few times, but yes, I think that might work. His shell is too rocky to hit." Link triumphed out loudly.

"We have a plan. Ooh! Here he comes!"

The beast hit the side of the wall, a few feet from them, and towered over at them with its mouth raised. Link grabbed a bomb from his pocket and leapt forward, throwing the bomb right at his uvula. With a gasp of surprise, the bomb went down its throat and for a few seconds, it just sat there. Opening its mouth, ready to breathe fire, but it stopped when a splash of pain went inside of it. Falling upon its knees, the monster began to shine a bright crimson, a small sigh of pain escaping its reptilian lips.

"We have him, Link, stab him!"

Taking no time, she fluttered around his eye, brightening her aura to yellow. For a second Link didn't move, but then he yanked the sword out and did one of those jump-slashes from before. This slash was aimed right for the eyes, so when it went down, the monster jumped up and spread off in the opposite direction screaming with pain. Black fluids poured from both of its eyes (Link had nailed both of them, instead of one), growling and yowling as it sat on the other side of the room. Collapsing on the ground, curling around into a sphere-shaped ball, the creatures screams were beginning to become muffled throughout the large room.

_--------------------_

How dare him! At first, he didn't know what he had eaten, then he had tried to throw it up, but he was too late. Most of his internal organs were already flattened which meant he would die within the hour. Curse him! Damnit! The monster slammed its paws into the ground, but it was paralyzed? What was going on, its skin colour had changed and now it couldn't move? That wasn't the worst of it, though. The worst was when both of its eyes were gouged with that little Kokiiri's blade of steel. Steel had stung his eyes, blinding him from both of them, so he wouldn't be able to aim himself properly, and throwing out of his mouth the fire would hit no one. Not knowing what to do, the Dodongo sped down towards the end of the room, stopping at the other side and staying curled. That monster couldn't get him now, yes that was a monster. How else could that Kokiiri survive the impact of his own body? It wasn't a Kokiiri; it was that only to tease him, what it really was some sort of deity

--------------------

"I don't think he is going for that trick again, Link."

"Oh, I know, I am going to do the Deku nut trick."

"Good idea." Navi sped towards the weakened Dodongo, firing blast at his shell, some of the shell cracked open, revealing some skin, but it didn't do much good at all. Running across the circle, not as fast as Navi, the boy took out a Deku nut and launched it right at the dinosaur, but the thing missed, hitting it on the mouth. Roaring in fury, the thing had been stopped, but not paralyzed in the mouth. Yanking another nut out, he aimed for the mouth and threw forward, landing a complete swish inside of the its opened jaws, the eyes widening in fear of what had just happened. From the looks it wasn't too smart, so it was quite easy to use tactics to escape away from it.

The monster turned on its back, bloody eyes ajar, with mouth open and staring at him widely. Link pulled out two bombs, igniting the fuse, and placing them inside of its cavity. Jumping forward a few feet, he hid under his shell as the impact fell out, but there was no need for no more slashing, for when he turned back around, the Dodongo was bleeding in all its glory. Half of its stomach was gone, all the scales shattered off, and the head stared ahead with brains pouring out in bloody masses. Whatever power had happened to it was now gone, its natural reactions were happening now, for it was brain-dead, both of the bombs knocking him from submission to instant death. But that was the way of the battlefield, things had to be exterminated, things had to be taken care of, or they were literally lost to the darkness.

Curling into a ball, the monster ran out into the hot lava, sinking inside of the lava until its skull was the only remains. Some of its body was still alive, but as the lava hardened and crumbled, it all turned to ash. Yes, the lava was crumbling too. It froze down to a light red, the heat of it dissipating to nothingness. Staring down at the monster, blood flowing from his sword, Link wiped it off and sheathed it down. Near where the skull disappeared, the familiar blue light stood open for their entry. Walking over to his broken shield, nothing was left except the small part of the insignia, which he smashed with a pitying sigh, there was no turning back now, he had been deserted first and foremost from his clan of spirit children. The circular light appeared around where the skull used to be, so he promptly made his way over it.

"We…we did it."

"Yes, Linky…we did it." She was breathless, it had taken so much out of the both of them, the pain and torture was over.

"H-how did that save me, the shield?"

"I guess Farore must be looking out for you, Link."

"…Must be, must be." Tying the bomb bag shut, he hurried over towards the light and stepped into it. That familiar feeling of returning strength appeared around his wounds, the scuffs of the fire disappearing, and also a new power was rejuvenating inside his soul. No, whenever this happened, he didn't look physically stronger, but he just got physically stronger. The third time it happened, so now he was three times as strong as when he the journey began. Just like last time, the room disappeared and he was transported to another area.

The scene switched from the boss dungeon of the Dodongo's Cavern, to right outside of the cave. Shaking his head lightly, a small pinging sound entered his ears, before a smash settled right next to him. Throwing himself around, he spotted a familiar looking Goron standing himself off. It was Daruina. A large smile was plastered on his face, and he beat on his chest furiously with the look of a warrior who had just won a war. Taking him deep in Link's arms, the boy couldn't help but feel a few bones crack, when Daruina sat him down roughly, laughing at his misfortune.

"Kid! No, Link! You've done well!"

"…Yea, you saw?"

"Of course not, but I sensed it. You have defeated all the Dodongos in the cavern; all we have are that stupid Beamos, which we can take care of with our special crop. I see you have some of our crops. You may keep them, I am sure they will help you on your journey to blow off walls and stuff like that."

"Thanks."

"Now, you wanted the Spiritual Stone of Fire, right?" He was more eager than usual, the man could see how the little kid was acting all dilated.

Navi went in at this time, her enthusiasm was showing even more than the little Kokiiris. "Yes, we do want it, Mr. Daruina"

"Ha! She is such a polite farie. Call me, Daruina. Please, I want you too."

Link looked up at him expectantly, and held his hand out politely. Oh, Goddess, he was practically drooling over the stone, his fairie doing the same thing, they both wanted that stone. Why shouldn't they deserve it, he argued mentally, I mean after all this hard work did they just want a pat on the back? No, that was for certain, the thing they wanted was the beauty to defeat Ganondorf, the beautiful ruby that would help put an end to his reign of misery that would never come to be. "The stone?"

"Oh, sure, but first let us become Sworn Brothers. No, there is no ceremony involved, we just have to come back to the City of Gorons and receive the stone, and it is inside my room. Hop on."

Climbing upon his back, Link held onto the Goron as Daruina streamed up towards the City of Gorons. They weren't actually gone that long (it only took an hour to get to the city), and when they were there Link received the Goron's Ruby. The ruby was quite beautiful; it was a red jewel, adorned in gold from the sides to the top of it. When receiving the ruby, Link stuffed it in the special pocket of his side pack where his ocarina notes and the other stone was. That night a small ceremony was met in his honour, and there he was given a wonderful feast (which he ate heartily). Him and his farie ate there to their heart's content; it was a dinner that was well indeed deserved.

"Here you are, Great Dodongo Buster." That was just one of the few nicknames he had inherited since his first night here. Turning around, he noticed one of the many Gorons with its arms pointed up to a new arena. They were on the second floor, and this room had normally been blocked up with boulders. Now, with rocks pushed aside, he pointed down the ten-foot tall square door, the door was blocked with another huge boulder, which the Goron pulled out of the way for them to step forward. Grinning in a delightful expression, he spread his arms as if Link was royalty.

"What's in there?" Spoke Navi, she had been secured in his hat, but now was up with the overfull moon.

"It will be to both of your liking, Miss Navi. Please, trust me."

With a sulk look from Link, Navi nodded her head in defeat. How could she say no to that…? Leaping forward, Link ran through the door and into the newest room. This room was twenty feet wide and thirty feet long, filled with lava rocks on the sides, was a long metal tank filled with water. It wasn't bubbling like the magna had, but the water was red from the immense heat. Yanking boots side, the young hero placed his feet in the water, only to be slapped in the face a few seconds later by the tasteful Navi, how could he do that without thinking, it was stupid!

"Link, are you insane! These are Gorons--ohh is your foot all right?" She was worried, at how he had just sunk it into the water, she wouldn't doubt it if burnt itself up.

He now had both bare feet in the water, sighing sweetly. "Yes ma'am, it feels wonderful. It isn't hot, but what is this? I've never seen water like this before."

"It's called a sauna, or a Hot Springs. It is where a person relaxes in the pool and bathes their troubles away." Contenting with a sigh, she fluttered over the pool, testing the water. Yes, this was so wonderful, such good Gorons.

"Wash your troubles away? What are you talking about, Navi? Navi?" She had flown out towards the middle, so he pulled his satchel, side-pack, and weapons off, placing them at the entrance of the room. Lastly, he yanked his hat off and dove into the water. Link had taken some swimming lessons before, so he easily glided in the water, and came to a stop next to his farie. How could you not know how to swim when you were down in the forest all the time, but when he thought of the it, a pained smile spread across his face, that reminded him of that event. "What are you talking about?"

"L-Link, you are n--" No, he wasn't. His hat and materials were over there, but the boy had obviously not gotten the key word: bathe. "Link…sweetheart, it's like a bath. You have to strip down so your clothes don't shrink in this water. Now come on and get naked." Wow…her cheeks exploded in embarrassment, turning around and facing the other way. No way she could watch him undress anyway, he may have been young, but was still a boy. Giggling nervously, he stared down at the water, studying the dark ripples that formed when touched upon.

"Oh, all right. You too?"

"Me too! Link, what are you--" Of course, she realized he meant nothing by it. Why would it be fair for him to strip and not her? "Why…all right."

"And no veil."

"No veil? Why not?"

"Because I don't have a veil, silly." He had yanked the wet clothing off under the water and threw it upon the coals at the sides. There, that would dry them while he bathed. Swimming over to the sides, away from the coals, was a scrub brush, some weird looking soaps, and other shampoo essentials.

"Link… I don't know about this, I am…after all a girl." She blushed her cheeks softly, and stared down upon the ground, shrugged a shoulder a little bit.

"So is Saria, but she used to take baths with me." Mmhm, he had seen them before, the chest of a girl, and of course knew all the parts.

She countered with a more defensive move, one she knew she was most likely going to win at.. "Does she anymore?"

"Well, no…" He confessed. It was weird, but after he grew too eight she said he was too big for them to bathe together. "I guess we don't. But, anyway, we are partners, remember. Whatever you have is mine and whatever I have is yours."

_--------------------_

_Ohh, I'd take anything you have to offer Linky._ She thought dreamily, slipping her clothing off, and sliding into the water, a few feet from him.

_Really?_ It was the voice, that stupid voice had returned itself back to life and was coming back to torturing him. _Would you?_

_Yes, I would. _She countered back in her mind, knowing that this time she was going to win this little battle against it.

_Ha, like you could handle him_. The voice seemed to be growing stronger and stronger, why did it want too keep the two apart?

_Aren't we the same? _She asked, were the two of one body and soul, did they share the same being in their mind. Navi thought that maybe this was part of her, this weird part just had to be, otherwise she was in trouble.

_Of course we are. _

_Then why don't you love him!_

The voice was quiet for a few seconds, but it quietly answered back_. I do…but we both know we can't have him, now do we? _

_Yes we can!_ Several minutes passed, Navi called out in her mind again. _We can love him. We can together!_

"We can love him together!"

"Love who?" Navi had been in her trance for a few minutes, so he had slid over to her and checked her out for any signs of strains. Nothing was wrong, no strains at all. Navi went in these trances sometimes, but Link was used too them by the third or fourth day on the road. She is different…that's all. That was fine with him, for he loved different things. Saria is different, he is different, and so is she.

Turning around, she noticed that Link had wrapped her in one of the many clothes the Gorons had left, sitting her upon the sides where the flames were bursting. Had he seen her naked? Gasping, she looked up at him with curiosity. "What did you say?"

"You said 'we can love him together!' who is he?" The curiosity ran across those light blue orbs and he frowned a little at how he was left out of the conversation. While this was going on, it had seemed like Navi was out of balance, in some sort of trance. He had tried to call at her, but she had neglected anything and just remained quiet. Not wanting to shake her, the scream is what inspected him to go about and touch her. Making sure that everything was all right with her, he asked what about the love for who?

"H-he? Ohh, he is…he is…Mido! I was saying we could love Mido together one day…? Yea, that's it." A perfect lie, she knew it, but as naïve as the boy was, he would probably buy it, and if not, who knew what would happen.

Distaste ran through his eyes and he just rolled his eyes a little bit, a hand going back and stroking her back lovingly. "Navi, you are too close to the flames." He smiled a little and splashed her with the water.

"Oh… I am, aren't I? I think you were the one who got his brain smashed in the Dodongo Cavern." She let out a small giggle.

Giggling, he backed up to the other side of the pool, waving his hands back and sending a wave towards the girl. Now it was only a wave too him, but too Navi it was a tidal wave, well it seemed to be for her. Squealing, she flew out of the towel and deep into the water, so it stood over her neck, staring up at the grinning Link. His own water level was up to his stomach; actually revealing that tanned chest was becoming a little muscled. Frowning, she growled a bit at her misfortune for the tidal wave of water that had almost drowned her.

"Linky, what was that for!"

"Oh, that? It was for this…" Gliding away, his feet went into an uproar and spilled what seemed like gallons and gallons of hot water on Navi. Crying out again, she fluttered the barrier on (just from her breast stopping at where her vulva began), it was basically a one-piece suit made of chi. Gliding through the water, she stopped right infront of him, blasting some harmless chi into his eye.

Standing up, he fell into the water, screaming in surprise from what she had come about for him. When he came up, Navi had the strangest look upon her face, as if she had seen some sort of ghost or something. He stared at her for a few seconds, and spoke, noticng she was in another one of her trances. Not wanting to wait for her this time, he just spoke, snapping those fingers infront of her face. "Navi…what's wrong, you are paler than usual." It was true she almost looked like she had albinism, but her pigment was whiter than ever.

"…Nothing, Link. Nothing at all, I was just thinking." She nodded, but what she had seen was not anything at all, it was something she had wanted to see. Very much, she enjoyed the picture she had seen, though it was a little ignored in her mind. The picture was there, it was just the bad part, and the naughtiness wasn't evident inside of her mind. Not as a dirty thing, she knew that, but as a special mark, a part of his body that she was not supposed to see. Her thoughts were wavering from in and out, but she decided to play it cool, that was it.

"Ah, well you want to be alone?" He smiled and nodded at her, she seemed to need some 'Navi-time' by herself.

"Kinda, could you go bathe and come back when you're done? It is personal." Of course she really didn't wanna be alone, she wanted to be with him forever, though now was a good time.

Looking hurt, he began to swim away, when she blurted out in a small tone, he rcheeks burning a bright red. "I love you…"

He didn't have too look back, he yelped out. "Love you too, hope that the personal thought isn't any of my flaws, hee!" At that point his voice echoed out, and he glided to the end of the Hot Springs, washing himself off.

_--------------------_

Oh, yes, it is about you, but it's not a character flaw. When Link stood up, Navi had been as joyful as ever, probably the most fun she had had in years, but as usual the fun came to a stop. Little Link jumped up and revealed himself too the young farie, which in turn had made her skin grow colder and all her emotions numb. Yes, she had seen that forbidden part of him, she wasn't supposed too see. The Deku Tree had agreed with her that the two must never fall in love. Sure, she hadn't known this was going to happen, but after that case, the two were going to remain partners until all eternity.

There were many rules in the Kokiiri Forest, and in most cases Faries and Kokiiri could fall in love, all though children producing was zero to none. In this case, however, the Deku Tree had forbid her from even thinking of those thoughts. That, in turn, had driven her wild, too think about him forbiddingly. Her first impression of him, was that he was this spoiled little child who had been raised by the most beautiful Kokiiri and lived up to snob issues, but she was wrong. Now the impression is that this is the sweetest little guy you would ever meet, whose courage is far past that of all Kokiiri, Hyrulians, Gerudos, Shiekah, and Gorons. Navi still remembered the conversations they had had almost a month ago.

_Never, Navi, I forbid it. _

_'But why?' She didn't seem that interested, Navi was naturally curious. 'I know some faries that have fallen in love with some of the other Kokiiri.' _

_'Yes, I understand that, but I forbid you too to get close. Link may seem ordinary, but he is far from ordinary, his future will bring great things.' _

_'Great things? Like what?' _

_'Nevermind that, I want you to promise me you won't get anything physical with him. The boy is young, anyway, much younger than the rest of the Kokiiri and as innocent as a newborn. Don't soil him, Navi-san.' _

_Soil him? How do you know, I know about those things? _

_The Deku Tree had just grinned, as Navi flew off in rage. _

Was she breaking her law against the Deku Tree, by falling in love? Maybe she was, but she didn't care in the least. You couldn't deny love, love was just like that, and sure she saw how those other girls eyed the young boy (he was naturally a very adorable one), but it didn't matter. The only one she had too worry about was Saria, no she wouldn't forbid Link to not see her, and she would just keep a close eye on the older Kokiiri.

When Link was done, he returned to her and washed her back, letting her bathe by herself. That night, they spoke of unimportant things, the stars, what was next, where the next stone was, and of course about themselves. Nothing particularly exciting happened that night, Navi snuggled up by his face, instead of in his hat, but that would sum up the entire Goron facility for that night. They were so much nicer than when the Kokiiri had given them a good-bye party. Of course, they hadn't killed Daruina, had they?


	8. Chapter VII The Flames Cool Down

-1

Chapter VII: The Flames Cool Down

Copyright: I do not own Zelda, Nintendo does. Story by Habuki productions.

The next three days he spent wandering the Goron City, the first day he lit all the torches with the help of his Deku Stick and got that large statue of the Goron in the middle to start spinning around. A few hours later, he wondered to the third floor and threw some bombs inside of the mark, which resulted in throwing a heart piece at him. The last piece until he got stronger, so he connected them and the feelings he had just felt a day ago returned to him with full extent. Stronger than ever, he could run up the entire place in and it too a half-hour shorter than before.

On his way up to the top of Goron City, Link ran into a Goron who called himself Hot Rodder Goron (that's what the sign said.) It also challenged anyone to throw a bomb out, to stop him from rolling. Link took the challenge with every bit of himself, throwing an explosive when the ball was two feet infront of him. Dodging the Hot, the bomb blew up and threw the Goron against the wall, a very tough little motion. Gasping, he ran to the Goron and helped him back on his feet, who was smiling at him.

"You've stopped me!" He seemed a little surprised; there were a bunch of burn marks from the bomb masking his face.

"Are you hurt?" Worry entered the boy's tone.

"Not at all, young Kokiiri. I've heard of you from the local Goron, you helped end our starvation, right?" He was just fine, and there he waited for the answer from the boy that had been called the 'Dodongo Buster.'

"Yes, sir."

The Goron reached inside of his pocket and took out a larger Bomb Bag could fit more bombs than ever. "You have more bombs, correct?"

"Yes, sir."

"All right, take this Bomb Bag as a sign of my appreciation for stopping the great Hot Rodder." Taking the Bomb Bag, inside were eleven more bombs, which brought his total number of explosives to forty bombs. Putting the bag back on his in place of the other one, he traded it and wondered off, for the Hot-rod was already gone with the wind.

_--------------------_

On his explorations through the city, Link discovered an entrance to the Kokiiri Forest. An entranceway had been here all along; he hadn't even known it, after all the time they had visited the forest. Maybe it was because Saria may have led him that they bypassed this entrance, which was true, he could hardly navigate this place alone, without the music. It really explained why Daruina liked Saria's music, for they were so close together, that he had heard it before. Placing a bomb right infront of a pillar of rocks, Link went off to the side letting the rocks crumble. When he wondered through, he was in the middle of the Lost Woods.

"That's where those rocks led. Hee!" Navi was tuckered under his cap, so he let the girl sleep while he wondered through the rest of the woods and back through the Sacred Forest Meadow. When he came upon the exit of the meadow, he peered through the gardens to see Saria was sitting upon the stump, as the last time he visited. There she was, in all her glory, perched upon the bench, enjoying herself. The instrument wasn't being used, so at least there would be no time to practice.

"Saria!" Running from the entrance of the new meadow, he saw as she jumped up and met him halfway. Giggling, he fell into her arms, causing them both to collapse into the dirt, yet he smothered the forest child with kisses of glory and misfortune. She, in turn, retrieved the smooches and gave a few back. When it was all over, he sat infront of her, grinning a little.

"Link--you're back, but you were still in Goron City less than a week ago, how did you get back so fast!"

"A secret passage. You see, there was this place covered with rocks, and I bombed it…" Triggering off the sentence, he pulled the bomb bag out and showed her the fresh patch. These never went bad, so there was no need to replace them after a length of time.

"Wow, what are those?"

"I'd show you, but you aren't used to them, they might make your ears bleed. Almost did for me, first time I used them. Anyway, in Goron City, there is a place where you can bomb rocks, and we could hear your tune. So, I bombed the area and turns out it leads into the Lost Woods." He nodded, and there he was about to go into detail about the Goron City before she interrupted.

"You mean that stone wall that was covered up?" She had been there before and often wondered what was there, though none of the equipment in the Kokiiri Forest was strong enough to break through.

"Yea, a few sectors away from where the small lake is." Putting the Bomb Bag up, he told her of his journeys with the Gorons, and the rewards he received. He happened between him the Dodongos, and a lot of other stuff, basically he told her the entire tale until up too today. The boy also mentioned what Navi had done (his words didn't describe what she saw), so Saria glanced at the hat and passed it off as embarrassment from her nudity. Half-agreeing with her, something else seemed wrong, he dropped the subject and went on with his tale.

A few hours later, the tale done and them both eating, Navi came from her hat and was surprised at the place. "Link, how long have I been sleeping!"

"Three or four hours, ohh, the place? I bombed that entrance with the music we heard, that took us here." He giggled, thinking that the girl must be bewildered, like she had slept over a week or so.

"Hello, Miss Navi." Saria spoke up, she had Link bounded in her lap, but since she was hovering over them both, he fully recognized her without moving.

"Hi, Saria. Urm, Link, when are we leaving?" She didn't want to sound mean, but she just whispered it towards the boy, aware of Saria. Of course she heard him, those ears were keen and could pick it up in barely a whisper.

Saria gasped, trying to hide the frown, so she stared down at the ground. What was it with this farie? Why was she always trying to separate the two of them? This girl, is she jealous, because they spend much time together, but why was that? Saria grasped it with full colours, nodding with anticipation. Of course, that was the perfect reasons. "Maybe you should leave tomorrow?"

"Saria! I came too visit you!" Link sounded ecstatic, now Saria wanted him to leave, just as Navi had asked a second ago.

"Yes, but you need to spend time with Navi." She nodded.

"Navi? I see her all the time, she knows I care for her, right Navi?" He looked up at the grinning farie, but her grin disappeared and she nodded a little.

"Of course you do, but we do need those Spiritual Stones." Navi added a little bit, she was trying to be helpful, though on the inside was cheering for Saria.

"Yes, Link." Saria had picked him up and sat him upon the stump, kneeling before him and resting her head in his lap. "You need to find the last Spiritual Stone, and then before you go see the princess, you can come and see me for a while. I have a feeling that maybe the entrance to the water leads to the Zoras, but it is too deep to swim. When you return…my hypothesis is you will be able to swim it."

"Saria…I--we can't be-- you don't…like me?" Staring off to the side, he was holding back the tears. Saria didn't love him anymore! Why did he have too leave! Silently, the salty sprinkles escaped from his tiers and stained his small tunic. As if like magic, he was gathered up in those arms, returning too her lap, and feeling her kiss and stroke his brow affectionately. Navi also sat on his shoulder, nuzzling him pitifully.

"Oh, Link! How can you say that? I do love you so much, but now isn't the time. You are slacking off, my little hero, and the sooner you finish this. The sooner you can come back too me, all right?"

"…Okay, then tomorrow?" She seemed so impatient, as if she wanted him to leave; though that tone was so sweet and sincere.

"Yes, Linky." Saria nodded, that was a good agreement.

Navi came over to Saria's side, speaking out loud; she was more interested in more of the information that the Kokiiri had found. "Saria, about the Zora's?"

Peeking up his interest, Link rested his head against her small breast, but listened too them speak fondly of each other. Nodding quickly, she reached into her pocket and spread out some material she had written down. A bland piece of paper, they really didn't have good stationary in this place, which was where it was written. It was in Kokiirish (which Link could read little of, he mainly read Hyrulian, for that was mostly what stuff was written in.) Clearing her throat, she spoke out loud in a warm tone, one that could show her age in it.

"I found this in the Deku Tree's files, it's written in the old language, but I roughly translated it. What is means is that the Zoras live down in the domain that lies south of that village you were at, Kakariko. It also mentions you don't go across the river, but you follow the river downward and that will lead you to the domain. This text mentions you need to learn to song of the Royal Family too open up the great waterfall that leads inside. You have that song?"

"Mmhm, Miss Impa taught it too me." Smiling a little, he flashed that ocarina of the fairies just for her, receiving a return smile.

"Great. The Zoras have the Spiritual Stone of Water, also known as Zora's Sapphire. The King is in good relations with the Zoras, so you shouldn't have a problem." That was a good thing, the Zoras were probably sealed up, just as Daruina had been before.

"What do they look like?" Navi spoke, hovering over the tablet, reading the Kokiirish with little trouble; her specialty was the old Fairie language. Although you could learn it down in the forest, she just had never taken the time to learn it, always busy with something else.

"It says fish-people, but that could be a mistranslation. I think they just maybe a race of swimmers, and the Deku Tree misunderstood." Of course, the tree had never left the forest, so he probably had never even seen them before.

"Nevertheless, do you have a special tunic for Link, any water-proof ones?" He wondered about it, did he have one that was waterproof, and the answer was that he didn't have one, of course this was to himself.

"Ah, yes, I do have one. If one is sprinkled with the dust of a Deku, then we can have it. I just happen to have some dust. Link, take off your tunic for me?" She nodded, spreading her arms open, and in one of them was a little pouch, though neither of them knew what it was full of.

"Mmhm, Saria," He sleepily pulled himself up, and slipped from his tunic. Standing just in the boxers, boots and weapons, he climbed back onto her lap and watched peacefully. Saria stroked his hair, pulling it over his ears, and gathered off his hat also, along with his socks, boots and the rest of the clothes. His clothes had changed, he felt a little tighter in them, and she might have to stretch them out a bit. Only after a few weeks and already he was growing out of his clothes, reaching larger heights. She smiled; she was happy, but also sad that he wasn't here, that she could see it all.

"It will also keep his sword from rusting, and that new shield. We can do that tomorrow, how about we go too sleep, now?" Yea, it felt to be around here, especially with him in his shorts, so why not just going onto sleep.

"I like that idea." He was asleep in a few seconds, being moved into the grass, and covered with his own clothes. Saria spread out a large sleeping bag, pulling him into it and sliding in herself, wrapping herself up. Offering Navi a home for the night, she refused profusely, flying away with a trail of disgust spluttering from her aura. Saria knew she was mad, but there was nothing between the two, she knew that in her mind. Though the kiss still astonished her, why she had done it, dismissing it simply as affection. Sliding down, so their heights were the same, the older Kokiiri kissed his cheeks wetly.

"You asleep?" She spoke aloud, keeping her voice quiet; the forest had turned darker and a bit more frightening.

"Nuh-uh." As much as he wanted to sleep, the young boy was even more lost about this place.

"Want me to let you?" She felt the urge to sleep, she could stay up if she wanted too, and also it was just a part of which she was. Sometimes she could go on for days without sleep and other times she slept for weeks at a time. It had scared Link the first time he had seen it, she had kept him out of the forest, but he wandered in. In the meadow is where she did it and as he had explained in tears, he thought that she was dead. Now as she held him, she wouldn't sleep for days or stay up for days, she would simply rest with him.

"If-you-don't-mind." He spoke in one quick word, cracking his eyes open too her. Staring into her face, his eyes widened, and he stared back at her. "What's wrong?"

"I'm a little scared, Link."

"…Oh." Giggling, he wrapped his arms around her waist, resting his head upon her shoulder. With their bodies pressed so close together, his figure couldn't help but scream in some unknown feelings. This felt as if hot lava was being poured upon his stomach, and yet the feeling was marvelous. Groaning, he nuzzled his head into her shoulder, mumbling aloud. "Scared now?"

"No… as long as I have my little hero, why should I be scared?" She smiled and stroked her hands along his body, feeling the soft skin was hardening a little bit, and getting darker.

"Someday, I'll be bigger." He whispered.

"Oh, no you won't. I like you this way, you are much cuter." Ruffling his hair up, she settled her head on his shoulder, in a matching manner, closing her eyes. If he replied, she never heard, for she was in her own dreamland ten seconds later. The same feelings were starting to flow over her body, sure she had felt it before, and knew what it was; yet it mystified her while she felt it for one so young. Each of the Kokiiri was thousands of years old, yet he was barely a decade old. She being one of the oldest and wisest, it really was strange too feel something for one so young.

_--------------------_

She just had too cool off, that was all she needed to do was calm the jealously inside of her. It was fine, for in the morning; Navi was right at Link's side, curled in those blonde tresses. That morning, while the duo ate Saria's breakfast, she prepared his tunic and clothes for the Zora's domain. When it was done, he shyly gave her a kiss and a hug goodbye, watching as Navi shook Saria's larger hand. So weird how they never got along, it really made him mad, since they were never angry with him. At about ten o'clock that morning, they walked back inside of Goron City, heading right for the exit. On there way out, Daruina was at the gate, with a few of his men.

"Brother!" They had been on the road for some time when they had warped back and found their Sworn Brother. Neither had any idea which was the brother, or if Navi was a Sworn Sister or something like that. Beating his chest profusely, he entangled Link in another one of those Goron hugs, a hard one. They were very long and hard, but he had learned to endure them, just a little bit more than the first time. Crying out, he hit the ground a few seconds later, and smiled a little bit at his newfound friend.

"Hello, Daruina."

"Brother, are you leaving?" He insisted on calling him brother, it was weird, but better to have an older-brother figure around.

"Yes, sir. I need the next Spiritual Stone, remember?" He had told Daruina of his quest, they were Sworn Brothers now, so he knew all about the quest for the stones of elements. The Goron nodded his head sadly, he was quite sad too see the little guy goes, but his spirits kicked up as he remembered what he was here for.

"Link, you might want to visit the top of the mountain." He declared and crossed those muscled arms around his huge chest, smiling down upon the kid. He had never liked kids before, but after this one, he started to enjoy them, from the looks of it, he might even have one soon.

"Why is that?"

"There is a mystical farie that lives up there. Some of the Gorons have seen here, not many though, she maybe a legend, but I wanted you too see for yourself. As legend goes she will grant you manna power."

"Manna power? What's that?"

"It is sort of like your chi power you showed us, but Manna gives you the ability to use your sword attack to more of an extent." The man seemed to be contended in this, as if he had done a study upon it himself. That was a good thing, what he spoke of did interest the boy very much, this weird little part that was named Manna. He would divulge upon it and explore even further into it; there he would go for a more extensive review.

"An extent?" Leaning against the city walls, Link crossed his arms over his chest. This Great Farie would be worth going too, so it seemed.

"Yes, you can use it a lot more often, and won't get tired as easily."

"Wow, thanks Daruina-san."

"My pleasure, brother."

Waving a quick goodbye, Link and Navi journeyed past the outskirts of Goron City, passing that red flag from before and headed up there. The city seemed to stretch out as they left, and at the door stood many Gorons, each of them waving. A welcome entry he had made upon them, a hero he was going to be to these peoples. By the Kokiiri he was banished, but now the Gorons accepted them as their savior, and by Farore he loved it. On the way, boulders were considered around the area, easily blown up by the boy and his new special crops. With little ease, there was not much trouble up the mountaintop.

_--------------------_

The third day after leaving the city was the worst of all; it was almost a catastrophe, rivaling to Dodongos. The duo had left the area and begun to sink in a sort of cavern, a weird sort that was a crevice. Nothing of the volcanic activity was around, so the two ignored the little rumbles every now and then. They had arrived in the center of the canyon, when the action started. The sky all of a sudden grew a darkened black, the clouds swirling all overhead. Staring up at the sky, since it was day, Link turned towards Navi with caution plastered in his eyes.

"…Navi?" He muttered when he noticed that the earth was turning a deep crimson, it was stranger than before.

"I don't know, I don't--the volcano! Link, under your shield!" She had blurted that out, for a large molten rock headed right for Link's head.

Cowering under the shield, the farie scrawled under it with him. Craving his arms around her tightly, he began to cry softly. The rocks stung as they clashed upon the shield and dented it inward. No immediate damage, so the stings were minimum, they were really from the pressure of the protector. Burying his face in the dirt, he shivered and cried out.

"Shh…Shh! Calm down." She hushed him loudly.

"W-w-w-w" He couldn't even speak out, his voice was lost in the shattering fear that encircled around him. They were going to die, and it was his entire fault! His entire fault! Letting out a shakily cough, Link pressed his head into the darkness, but a beam of light lit up into his face. Blinking, he peered forward and saw her aura brightening a lighter shade of azure. She blew him a slight kiss and his entire body was filled with the light and chi he always felt when close to her veil. Shivers of pleasure ran down his body, the aura all around him, as if it had swallowed him up.

Gazing forward, he saw that he was inside of her aura, yes the blue light had gulped him up. Somehow, someway he knew it was real and, she had expanded it so it included him too. Pushing himself up, Link brushed the dirt from his body and gazed over at her. At the full light, he finally caught her with all her glory. With the aura on, she would fill his entire hands, and some of her would stick out. This way, she could stand in the palm of his hand, but could also curl up and be held. A mini-human is what she reminded Link of. He had seen Navi a lot, but usually she had some of her aura on, or she was hiding on him. Chuckling nervously, he looked down at the ground, embarrassed. She stared up at him curiously, and spoke.

"What is it?" She was acting as if nothing was wrong.

"…I was scared." He whimpered just a little bit, and there he stared into her eyes, grasping the over confidence in them.

"Of course you were, Link, sweetie. You had to be scared, you saw fire and it frightened you." Her wings were finally shown to him with full colours. These were a clear, see-through substance, the top part connected to her back, while the bottom were at her back, but stood out south. Wearing a blue top, and silky pants on her body, a shawl extended down across her body, covering up her pale stomach and other hidden fleshy parts. On her feet stood a pair of small shoes, this was maybe what she usually wore. He guessed Faries didn't need to bathe much, because she always smelt good.

Link had been staring at her, eyes agape, which in turn made Navi flush a little bit more than ever. Flying up to his face, she kissed the tip of her nose, and spoke out loud, hoping that he heard. "Link, the fire has stopped."

"Really?" His hands went from away from his body, he couldn't see the outside world, and all he saw was the aura.

"Yes, and we didn't need this aura. It doesn't protect you, you know." That smile upon the fairie's face widened, and she leaned forward, kissing his lips gently, so soft as a mother would.

He knew this; Gohma had mortally wounded her while wearing this little veil. Nodding simply, he curled her inside of his palms, stroking her like a doll. Navi, in turn, flushed and pulled away from him giggling a little. Pulling her close, he kissed her cheeks sweetly, before settling her back on his shoulder, speaking out. "You ready?"

"Y-yea." Clearing her throat, she snapped her fingers and they appeared back in the old scenery. Her aura was gone, for the time being anyway. Gathering up his scattered shield, the boy ran out into the valley even deeper, running into the rocks sometimes, but he learned they were easy to dodge. That night it was officially decided that from that day on the veil would stay off unless they were in the company of others. She argued, he compelled, eventually winning the argument and receiving what he wanted.

_--------------------_

"Why do you want too look? Aren't I ugly?" She spoke of the subject the following night, as they lay down upon the ground for the night. He had spotted a new area to climb, but it was at least a few miles away, that would have to be for tomorrow. They rested for the night, so they could tackle it before noon tomorrow and are done with this dreaded mountain. This mountain would go to the very top and hopefully the legend that his new brother spoke of would come true. All Navi knew was this Great Farie had better have been as good as the legends said.

Link smiled a little, stroking her hair somewhat, it was quite lovely for her. You would never tell by her veil that she was lovely. "I want it, because you can see me and that isn't fair. Remember that, we are equal."

"Yes, but am I ugly?" She hadn't answered the question of his, so of course she was going to ponder it once more.

"No." He answered without any thought put into it. Thinking a little, he shook his head once again. "You are very pretty Navi. You have some things on you I don't quite understand." He was referring to her breast. "Yet, I didn't understand why those are on Anju and some of the other women in this land."

"Women get those when they get older." Navi was very matter-of-fact, besides, the boy had seen that many women in Hyrule had breasts. Some even wore those cut-off, so it was easier and easier to see them, she knew the boy had noticed, she had caught him staring.

"Saria's older than me." He nodded, crossing his arms across his chest.

"Doesn't matter, she's a Kokiiri. You all don't grow up." It was true that Saria's were there, she just wore a sweater, so they were pushed back. Navi could tell that the girl had breasts, plus some of the other girls seemed to have smaller ones.

"Ah, yea. So, how old are you?" They had set up camp; Link lying in the sleeping bag with Navi rested right before him. It wasn't really a sleeping bag, but a comfortable sheets stocked together for when people traveled. No monsters were on the mountain, so the fire had drawn out of its cover and was put out when Link kicked it out. Receiving an odd look from Navi, he stared back into her deep eyes, kissing her forehead. "What, what's wrong?"

"It's impolite to ask a woman her age." Even though Link probably didn't know that, she spoke it nevertheless about the phrase.

"But, I know mine, and I know Saria's." He whined.

"Ohh, how old are you and her?" Navi stretched herself out a little, curling the covers around her body, and watched Link with quite the glaring movements.

"I'm ten Navi, you know that. Saria is 5,600." Mmhm, Link had asked her that a few years ago and she had said a few years earlier, so he calculated in the additional years and came up with it exactly.

"S-she is!" Surprise appeared upon his face.

"Yea, she said that she is one of the oldest Kokiiri. Mido and the Know-it-all's are the oldest." Of course, Mido had been around since a few years after the creation of the Deku Tree.

Wow, she was a lot older than Navi, which was for sure, a lot older than she knew of anyone else. Navi wasn't even a century old at all, she had had no idea that the Kokiiri girl had been around that long. Should she tell Link how old she was, should she reveal how much the small girl had existed? Nah, she just drifted herself off to sleep as he explained what he and Saria did that night down when Navi was asleep. Nodding off to a distant unconsciousness, the jealously was erased, because they were together.

_--------------------_

A total of five days the two they spent wandering the atmosphere, the ground was so sufficient. By the third day, they reached the little area that led up out of the valley; the cavern had thankfully been over. Taking out the trio of Skulltullas, he spent the next day climbing up to the top of the area. There were little crests in the mountain where he rested upon one that night, upon a small piece of land sticking out. The fifth day he climbed up the top of the Death Mountain, and peered into a hot molten lava entrance of the mountain.

"We can't go in there?" Link pondered as he watched the steam arise in the air, it was smoking in that boiler room.

"No, we can't, Link. It's too hot, you would suffocate, and this is the direct lava. The Dodongo's Cavern was at the bottom of the mountain, this is the top." She proclaimed.

"Where is the farie then!" Growling, he slammed his foot into the left area of the wall he was leaning upon. A small creaking sound interrupted his thoughts. Gasping, he stared at the wall, setting down a bomb and setting it off. Moving back a few feet, the bomb exploded, and when the smoke cleared a hole was in the place of the wall was.

"Navi!" His voice was surprised.

"That must be the fountain. We can go inside here, it is safe!" She nodded, she remembered this place, and the caverns were never harmed by the temperatures.

"You sure?" The young hero asked.

She didn't even answer him, but flew into the cave, with him running after her in response. As soon he entered, the soft harp music fell upon his elven ears, a melodic tone, better than his Ocarina playing. Sighing softly, he stared around the brightened room, seeing the places around here. Sprites of all kind were erected in the room, talking amongst themselves, staring off to the sides. When his presence was shown, they immediately surrounded him, pouncing Link in the ground. Letting out a stream of giggles, the smaller faries nipped and nibbled at his flesh, playfully excruciating him.

"De go, fee he nai! Link he jie!" The sprites made tracks, returning to around the structure in the middle staring at him with wide eyes peering out of the veils. Sitting on the pale blue stonewall, he stood up and stared forward. Up towards the ends of the stairway were two small steps and the symbol of the golden Triforce. Right above that was a pool that sprinkled with glistening water, the water wasn't very large, but the pool extended out twenty feet. Where the sprites were, were drips of water that they could rest on, but it didn't compare to this place. Turning to the owner of the voice, he stared at Navi.

"What did they want?" He was still flushed from the licks, and smiled, waiting for the answer from his fairie.

"They were trying to eat you." She spoke out, steamed.

"E-eat me!" So the naivete was in action once more, he thought it was like with Gohma and whatever the other women wanted to do.

Smacking her forehead, she let out a little chuckle. "Not swallow you, but taste you. Most sprites up here never get too meet anything close to a Kokiiri. Gorons hardly travel up here, and no one has ever found this place, they wanted too taste your skin."

"Did they like it?" He blushed, staring at the sprites, to see each of their reactions at his skin taste they had gotten. Each of their veils was off, only surrounding their waists; the rest of their body was shown. It shown that all the faries were females, at least all here and all had pink hair that was long, short, or medium built. Each wore different pairs of clothes, which included shorts, dresses, shawls, battle armour, and just regular attires. None of them battled, but they were probably meant to aid someone on a quest, helping fairies.

"Of course they did, you are a Kokiiri. Besides, you are sweet, I've tasted you." She whispered out, flushing.

"Y-you have!" Covering his cheeks, they were burning up, and trying to catch himself, he sat upon the stone path, lying down on his back.

"Yes, of course I have. Don't worry, that is how sprites and faries tell if your personality. Most of the Kokiiri faries taste there masters of mistresses, it is a way to find out if they even want him or her for a partner." Of course not a soul knew about that, the Deku Tree, though the Kokiiri shouldn't have.

"Ohh, urm, what is the deal up there?" He pointed at the Triforce symbol, and with the crimson to his cheeks already gone, he pulled the ocarina out and walked up to the symbol, standing upon it.

"Play it, that summons the Great Farie, she is just the one of many. I forgot which farie she is, since I have never seen her. Only Royal Family members can access the faries, of course, no one usually finds them."

Placing the nozzle to his lips, the young lad blew out the tune of the Royal Family. After the tune was out, a few seconds passed, but nothing happened, the place seemed to stand still. Then a scream of laughter pierced Link's sensitive ears, making him grip it with one hand, holding the ocarina with the other. A spiral of magic interrupted the water, spewing out in a cone-like structure shown it. Out of the cone came a body that started to form in the air. Beautiful soft skin clad upon her body, a darker colour of pink hinter her long hair, maybe magenta, it was.

The woman was at least six feet tall, with ivory vines aligning upon her form, with the illumination of those deep brown eyes staring at him. Link couldn't help but be propelled by her beauty. Never had something seemed so lovely, and yet at the same time too be so forbidden. She seemed to be a forbidden fruit, of course much scarier than the regular kind of fruit. A nervous laugh entered his esophagus, throwing out in the atmosphere, and throwing up his head, he stood upon the Triforce with full stance. Navi stayed at his side, watching the sprites every now and then, but keeping a close eye upon the farie.

"I am the Great Farie of Power, what is it you wish to ask me, young hero? You have traveled a far and dangerous road, as I can foretell." Nodding her head, she took her place of floating around, watching upon the young hero.

"I-I-I was told by the Daruina that there was a farie up here who could grant me something called manna. Is that true?" He flushed.

"Manna. Yes, Daruina knows well of his tales, yet has never been up here. Indeed I am one six of the most power faries in the world. Maybe I shall grant manna, but then again, maybe I shan't." Smirking, she laid upon the air, as if it was some sort of furniture, defying the laws of gravity.

"I…what do you mean?" His was caught beyond his words and frowned.

"I shall grant you manna for your hardships, but I require something in return." Of course something was needed, the special things in life were never given without a good prize in return.

"Anything!" He blurted out.

"Link, don't say that!" Navi scolded, staring up at the farie, she didn't know what this one was capable of, she wasn't evil, but something about the glimmer in her eyes made lower class farie feel a bit uncomfortable.

"I haven't seen anyone out of this cave since I entombed myself, which was three hundred years ago, and I require something that hasn't been given too me. I would like a dae nei."

The guardian's eyes widened, what did this want, he wondered looking up at the higher in the chain of faries, Navi shook her head all of a sudden. "No."

"Dae nei." The woman smiled out through those lips, she was staring at the two of them with glimmering eyes.

"No, not that, please!" Navi pleaded.

"I need a Dae nei, little farie, from the boy, of course." She smirked.

"What is a dae nei?" Link stared up at the farie, then changing his expertise to Navi and both seemed in some sort of spoil or a battle of some sort.

"It means she wants a kiss." Growling, she fluttered off to where the sprites were, pouting at what was about come. She knew he needed the manna if he hoped to take any of the other monsters our, but this was ridiculous! Keeping her distance away from the group of sprites, she heard their fairish speech of what the Farie wanted. Of course most of them could read the minds of the boy, so understanding him wouldn't be bad. They understood her, but not any other Hyrulian, so it was hard to distinguish if the boy was going to reply.

"You want a kiss? But why, I am but a little boy." Link had sat himself down upon the Triforce mark, gazing up at the farie. Lowering her a few feet, but still hovering over his body, she grasped him by the collar and brought him up too where she was. The boy gasped, levitating up to her height, which she returned to where she lay only a few minutes ago. Nodding a quick approval, the farie spoke.

"Yes, you are a young boy, but one day will mature into a Kokiiri. Sure, you have your form of it, but yet I desire something from a true hero. Heroes aren't as common as they used too be, so I desire the love of one. Just one kiss, and we shall begin the training so you may gain manna." The Great Fairie just smiled, watching the reaction upon the boy, for her prize she waited.

"There is training?" Wow, so there was a method to get the power.

"Of course, you did not think it was just a restoration process? The other faries might not require training, but you need my manna to gain their powers. So, do you agree?"

Turning around, he faced Navi, and spoke at his girl, frowning a little bit more, shrugging his shoulders. "Navi…it's for the mission."

Remaining silent, she nodded a sigh of deep consent through her mouth, she would let him go ahead. Navi knew that this kiss meant nothing, the boy was for him and for him only, and this was a business deal. To seal the deal, a kiss was needed, there was no way that her hero would enjoy this. Link couldn't help, but feel bad for it was weird how her emotions spurred out when they were around other women. Never-ending the thought, the young hero nodded a little for the approval of the kiss. It wouldn't be painful, nor as beautiful as the one with Saria, but he had kissed a few times.

Nothing was ready for what came next. The farie began to smirk, her long arms coiling upon his body and entangling him into a barrel of passion. Lips moistened, puckering for the release, and went into motion with a barrage of feelings surged through out her. Link's arms flailed a little during the kiss, coming to her neck, and holding onto it for the support of accidentally falling. There were no words for what his thoughts were during those two minutes of kissing. Repeating Saria's actions from before (meaning the tongue), it coiled and slid to and fro from inside his mouth too inviting his own to hers.

All the sprites watched with ease, and when their mistress waved her hands, the sprites sped up towards Link. Being covered with an entire suit of pink veils, each of the sprites began to lick at certain parts of his body, but they couldn't go in specific areas, those were just off limits. Some crowded upon where his lips were; some just picked any other spot, but most went from place to place, searching for his sweet spot. Shivering lightly, he could feel them all around his body, while the kissing went on.

Finally, the farie broke the kiss, dropping Link down on his knees before the Triforce. Smirking a bit, she petted his head a little, reaching into his satchel for that bottle he had gained from Anjou. Opening up the top and pouring the Milk out, the white liquid splashed all over the ground. Grabbing a sprite, she placed it inside of the bottle, shutting the cap on it and returning the glass jar back to the home where from hence it came. Touching his head, she spoke sweetly; the tone was more satisfied than the other had been.

"I was kidding." Her voice was that of a singsong.

"About what?" His breaths were a bit harsh, trying to rejuvenate after the experience; it had really left him winded.

"About the training, I was going too train you for no power gain if you didn't comply to my kiss, but you did, so I shall restore it onto you. Peii, heal Link!" A small Sprite came up to Link, kissing his cheek, and disappeared after a few seconds. All the pains of the climb to Death Mountain were now only a little bit of a problem, and standing himself up, he smiled a little, crossing his hands at his chest.

"There is a Sprite in your bottle, her name is Tui, and she shall be with you until you need healing. Of course my fairies are different, they temporarily heal you, the other one was for the scruffs on you. When you are hurt, it shall subside the pain a little, but not forever--don't rely on it." Placing a hand upon his forehead, her other hand came forward where Navi appeared in the palm of it. Nodding, each palm lit up a different colour, the one Link was near shaded green, while Navi's shaded a light-blue appearance. Beginning to speak in a language even Navi couldn't comprehend, the great being asked for the powers to be bestowed upon these two brave souls.

Magically, Link began to fill enlightened with his feet, like the world had transformed him into a god. As it would turn out, his strength, vigil, speed, and other important elements were enhanced beyond the Kokiiri boundaries. Remaining in the same form, when she took her hands off the two, she made them test out each other's power. Navi's blindness technique could affect more than one enemy, her chi was also stronger, but it was Link who received the most power. Along with being enhanced physically and mentally, his sword gave itself a new glow. For the next few hours they honed their powers, trying to reach the peaks, and discovering new things about them.

"This is called the Rhiu-Kiyto. It is an ancient sword-technique passed through the legends. Try it out, hold your sword and concentrate upon it." When Link did give it the ole' try, the blade shimmered a bright blue from before, but about two seconds later the chi around the blade began to waver and turn a monstrous rogue. Asked to spin around, when Link did, the results were astounding. He went around three times, cutting anything in his path. Thanking her profusely, the farie had one last reward for the duo.

"I was going to let you enter Death Mountain and retrieve this, but since you are running short on time, I shall give it too you. I understand you collect heart pieces, is that correct?"

"That is right, Great Farie." Navi spoke, they had only been here practicing for five hours, but Navi now held a deep respect for the farie. She may have been love-hungry for Link, but with all tricks aside, she had deeply affected the odds in their way.

Throwing her hands out in opposite directions, a fourth of a heart container fell down at Link's side. Reacting, he stashed the fourth piece inside of his pocket, bowing to the mistress. "Thank you, Miss Farie."

"You are welcome, young hero. Anytime you come around here, I shall heal you, but for a price." Winking at Navi playfully, she leant down and patted the boy upon the head. "Ah, that reminds me. Since you know the Royal Family, next time you are in Hyrule, I advise you too visit the Fountain that is located right before the palace. There you shall find another one of my kind." Waving to the two, she slid back inside of her pool, gone without a trace, but this time the sprites went with her. After the magic was over, the cave resembled a basic water fountain where one would wash clothes.

_--------------------_

"She was too love-struck." Navi was muttering too herself, when Link blurted out a yell of surprise. Turning towards her companion, she spotted what had dumbstruck him so much. Resting upon a wooden sign, the one they had seen before entering the cave, was Kaepora Gaebora. Turning towards the attention, the owl burst out in a 'hoot-hoot'.

"Hello there young farie, young Kokiiri. I see you have grown stronger since our last encounter." The owl hooted out, the two of them had turned around towards the edge of the mountain and caught his vision.

"Hi, mister Gaebora." Link walked over to the edge of the cliff, sighing a little; just knowing it would be a while back. This was going to take a long time go get down, but before he could start climbing, his farie was at his ear whispering an idea silently. The girl had said something that he needed, the boy nodding at her, patting her hair softly. Eyes widened, and he nodded to her little devilish scheme, walking over to the owl, coughing a little bit. The cough acted up a bit more and he whimpered a little, looking around, as if he was dizzy.

"What's wrong, young Kokiiri? You seem ill?" He sounded concerned.

"It was that dreaded Dodongo, I think he had something I caught from him, or maybe an injury." Link whimpered.

"Ha, so you have the Spiritual Stone of Fire, I presume?" He hooted, he knew of course that the boy had it, he could smell the jewel in his pack.

"Yes sir, but I guess I won't be making it down." Slumping to one knee, the owl was at his side in seconds, with concern plastered upon the animal's face.

"Don't worry, young Kokiiri, I will take you down to mountain to the Kakariko village." The owl smiled the best that an owl could smile, and nodded that he would take the child back.

"R-really? Oh thank you!" He smiled a little, stroking the owl's feathers, as it flew above Link and dug its claws into his shield, anywhere else would have injured him. Gathering up Navi in his palms, the lad smiled and nodded for them too take off. The plan had actually worked, no he wasn't sick at all, and it had been the idea of getting down the mountain in a few minutes. Plus, a chance too fly was one in a million. Spending the next few minutes with hands spread, Navi stayed under his hat and watched them bound the mountain that had taken long too climb. The record time was forty-five minutes.

Gaebora stopped onto Impa's house, dumping the boy on the roof, a better place to go. Maybe it was revenge because he could sense no illness in the boy, so he would have to work his way down. Either he knew or he wasn't letting on that there was a secret area down here, it was good either way. This was an area Link couldn't have reached from before, it was inside of the pen where Anjou's Cucco's were, but the roof of the next house was where they sat now. The owl smiled at the two of them, his grin was sort of, nodding quickly, and he would be gone soon.

"No time to doodle, young ones, I must be off. Do not worry, for I will always have my eyes on you. Hoot-hoot-hoot!" Not even a polite goodbye was given, before he was heading down where the sun set its horizon.

"He left us on a roof!" Growling, Navi went down inside the house too look for a proper person with a ladder. Down inside the Cucco pen was a small passageway that led inside of a cage with a barn.

She didn't know until she smacked into the cow, though. No one was in the house, except a small heart piece near the cow. Bundling up the piece, she fluttered back and presented it too Link, who completed the half of the piece. Link had managed to skim down the side of the house, past the Cucco pens, and was looking for Anjou when Navi arrived with the heart piece. The Cucco girl wasn't found that night, so he and Navi rested at a local's house for ten rubies for the each of them. It wasn't one of the best stays in the home, but each got a hearty meal for supper and breakfast. Starting out early the next morning, the two would head to the next Farie fountain to get one of the other powers that laid within the Goddesses', what it was? That in it was a mystery.

_--------------------_

Taking the way to Hyrule Market, the group took three days to reach the mysterious fountain that was deserted in the place before the desert. Link had to bribe to guard ten rubies too slip past the gates before getting unnoticed (the vines had been cut only a few days before.) When he slid past, she spotted an area that was deserted besides for a small rock and a sign that read 'dead end.' A dead end was bad, but that wasn't what he was mad about, there could end up being a passage. It wasn't too hard to figure out that with one of the special plants in place, that the walls imploded to reveal another one of those entrances.

This encounter was a lot quicker than the other one, for there was no training or any formality. The farie, who was Great Farie of Magic, did ask for a simple lip kiss, one that the other had. Though she wasn't as hungry for love as the other had been, probably since she was closer to the rest of Hyrule, the other was trapped on top of a mountain. Not as intense as the last, plus there were no Sprites around too interfere with the two. After the kiss, he was given a small little diamond shaped glass jar, where a jewel was uncrowned in the middle, and he had to speak up.

"What is this madam?" He whispered.

"Spread your legs and slam your fist into the ground, young one." These great ones just loved that he was so young, for some reason, but complying to her wishes…he did slam his fist into the ground (after making sure she wasn't looking up his skirt.) When his interactions were perfects, a ball of fire entombed him, spreading in every direction. The fire was like an aura, as it didn't burn him, Navi of the Farie, but everything else was singed.

"That is the Goddess of Power's own little tool. Din's Fire is the correct name of the term, and the Goddess of Power has entrusted it too you. It will sap at your manna, but now that you have this, some new little tubes shall appear in dungeons, along with heart containers. They are brown and cylinder shaped, but when you drink them they shall return your manna to full power." She seemed confident in her procedure and there she nodded for the hero with the magic.

Saying quickly thanks to the farie, they rushed from the small cavern and made their way back to the Hyrule Castle Town Market. Reaching the town right before it closed at nightfall, they received a small room at an inn for the night, where they rested. Only residing for twenty rubies, the room was a deal, since people always visited the Market Place for days at a time maybe to see the sights, shop around, or see royalty. Truly the Goddesses for providing a rest for them blessed them, that seemed a miracle in itself. Bad luck had been on this trip, along with good luck, and now here was a little bit of the good kind.

_--------------------_

"Where did she say the Zoras were?" Nine days total had been neglected from these Farie requests, they were essential, yes, but the adventure did need to be met on. Link was lying in his bed in only his nightclothes, while Navi rested upon his chest, asking the question.

"Saria said that we were to go to the river, remember that river we passed on our way to Kakariko, across the bridge?" Remembering the bridge, the one they almost fell off of, she gave a nod, nuzzling her face into his chest.

Flushing, he gave her a small pat on the head. "We follow the river, then we get to a place where we must swim the river for a while. She said the current would drag us along, so we needn't worry. Then we go a while until we reach this waterfall and from there we play the Royal Family's tomb and something happens. Probably the entrance opens up."

"Saria is probably right." Crawling up his chest, she laid her head on his shoulder, letting out a small growl. She had been on the top part of his chest, veil off, so it wasn't a hard climb to the top area of him. The growl, playful in all its nature, was a way to express her tired bones from this journey. She wasn't a very young farie, nor an old one, but this journey could work wonders on anyone.

Lifting her small body, he set her in his palm so that their eyes could meet each other and spoke. "So, why do you get mad?"

"Mad? At what, there is a lot of stuff I get mad at." She seemed innocent enough, though you could detect a bit of sarcasm in her voice.

"Well, whenever a girl…you know, messes with me. Why does it bother you so much?" He blushed a little bit.

That hit the nail right on the head. Her face tightened up in fear, and she looked off to the side, chuckling nervously. "I don't know, Link, I-I guess I am a bit protective of you, that's all."

His eyes veiled over a little, and then they brightened up, him stroking her hair softly some more. She was dressed in a long silky robe for the night, so his fingers could come over those small features from the robe. Yes, she had attire too, but it was stuffed inside a small pocket of his satchel, so she didn't change. She hardly changed, the fairies really didn't need baths, which was the truth, and they could go for months. Not that she did, whenever he bathed, she always went with him and scrubbed herself clean. "Don't worry, I'm not mad about it, I am sort of glad too have a protector out here. I know Saria would get mad that those women are being so weird with me…especially those Great Faries."

"D-did you enjoy their kisses?" She whispered.

"'Course I did, it was fun! I mean, it was nice too be kissed, makes me feel loved, and I was happy to do it so those faries would be happy, you know? I just don't understand why me, I am just a boy." Of course he would enjoy kisses from a beautiful woman, as scary as the fairie was, but she was beautiful. Enchanting was a better word for it, something that he knew he could never claim, but dreaming wasn't ever a bad thing.

"Faries are attracted too little guys like yourself. Some of them even fall in love with their partners, like forest faries." She had no idea if it was the truth it was, she didn't know at all, and that was the pure truth.

"R-really? Wow, like who?" He whispered.

"Oh, I haven't met any." Unless I look at my reflection in the water, that is, her thoughts came around there as she continued. "But they are around, Link."

"I have a question, I have seen faries all around, every type that is known, but are there boy faries? And how do they reproduce?" It was a good question, she wasn't even sure how they had a long time ago, but now she did know.

_He knows about reproduction! Then maybe he will want too with_-- She was about to speak something else, though something did respond back and interrupt her.

_Whoa, whoa, whoa! Down girl. Link has read about it in his lessons, but he doesn't do it!_ The voice was back, not as evil as before, only trying to make her understand the facts: Link didn't reproduce, at least, yet.

"Boy faries? Well, faries reproduce asexually; all are females, though. What I mean by this is that us faries have the parts a female farie would have, but we don't reproduce sexually. In other lands there are other faries that reproduce and have males, but not here. I guess everyone decided that females would be better." She nodded somewhat, and smiled, waiting for those answers that he was going to ask about next.

"Why is that? I mean I like you as a girl, your pretty and smell nice, but what's wrong with the guys?" Were guys bad, he wondered, he knew he wasn't bad, but maybe the male fairies were.

Flushing a little, Navi shrugged. "Thank you… Urm, I don't know, the Deku Tree wasn't in charge of faries. I guess it was evolution that decided it, that and the Mistress faries are all girls."

"Mm, so do you know anything about these Zoras? Are there any pictures or anything?" It was a subject change and Navi welcomed it.

"Sorry, Linky, I don't really have the slightest clue…" Her voice drifted off into oblivion, Saria might know, but what was for tomorrow, it really was. The tiredness was consuming, but she didn't want it too go on. No…stay with him and be with him. Yet it was futile to resist, for within a few seconds she was out like a candle. Link pulled the covers over the two of them, kissing her softly, admiring her scent, and joining her within minutes later. That was the last night they spent in Hyrule, for the next morning as the sun rose at six, they headed out into the lush fields to search for a river.


	9. Chapter VIII Azure Reflections

Chapter VIII: Azure Reflections

Copyright: I do not own Zelda, Nintendo does. Story by Habuki productions.

How could water been so plentiful? For the past three days the duo had followed the river's trail past endless miles and miles away from civilization. Persuasion from Navi was the only thing that kept the boy following the path, because in his opinion, he thought that the river was a hoax and there were no Zoras. Had he seen one? No, he had seen a Goron in Kakariko, but never a Zora anywhere near the area. Three moons had passed and gone, going on the fourth sunrise when Link spied upon an entrance where the river led inside.

"Would that be it? Seems more like a cave, though." The structure was obviously made by a person, for it was carved into a smooth square. Link walked up to it, the path would have to be swam.

"Yea, Link, I am sure this is it. You can swim, right?"

Sticking out his chest, he laughed a little. "Of course I can! I am a Kokiiri, I was taught to swim when I was only five or six." Leaping into the water, his swimming skills didn't really come in handy this time, for currents immediately drug him screaming into the darkness. Navi was right at his side, lighting the way as the darkness turned back to the sunlight of the morning. No, not a cavern, it was actually just passage that concealed the contents of the new land from outsiders. The current threw him on the grass, out of the water.

Raising up all the way, he studied his surroundings, to what was around in this little place. To his right was the base of Death Mountain poking out into the grass, on his right was a larger part of Death Mountain, for there was no end to the rocks. No where to stand upon the structure. Up ahead was a small gate with some bombing boulders infront of them? Walking through the contents of a bushel of grass just up ahead, Navi piped up.

"Look, Link." Rustling through the underbrush, the farie came back with a wooden cylinder filled with some green liquid. "You should hold onto these, I am pretty sure they recharge your manna."

"Manna? Oh, my chi. Yea, that's what those faries were talking about?" Gripping the cylinder, he stuffed them inside the same bag as his heart containers, and other little assortments. Searching throughout the grass, Link pondered upon three more heart containers (which he drank two, she drinking one.) That search ended when he came to the boulders, blowing them up with only two bombs in the center of the others, and passing over that owl (Navi made him dodge the stupid thing, so the journey would get a move on.) For the next few hours they wandered until about three o'clock, they came upon a chubby man with no shirt on.

Grimacing, Navi studied the Hylian? Yea, it was naked except some blue pants, and worn flabby, pale skin. A bullish-shaped face was planted in a grin, as it snacked upon some beans. Taking a few steps forward, Link tapped the man on the shoulders. He didn't move, so he got down on his knees, crawling infront of the man, staring deep into those beady eyes. They could have left, except a huge gate was guarding their way out. Unless Link could leap thirty feet to the other side of land, that had broken off from Death Mountain, he was stuck.

_Oh, creatures of the night! _Finally noticing the two adventurers, the man leapt up against the gate in fear, leaving a rank breath of beans in Link's face. Backing up a few feet from the gate, Link looked over at the man, now noticing he was a lot younger than he was first presumed. Maybe in his early twenties, so still a man.

"Young sir! Young sir, please don't rob me!" He was literally in tears.

"R-rob you? What's that?" He was more surprised than the man was, why would be suspected as some sort of criminal.

"He thought we were going to steal from him, Link." Her veil was on, had been since that morning so it appeared to the young man that some sort of weird energy source was speaking, that freaked him out. With a shout of perseverance, the accusing was about to start.

"A warlock! Please don't hurt me, please! Your magic talks, I can see that with me own two eyes!"

_Some eyes…_ "Warlock? Oh, no, I am not one of those. This is my fairie, you see I am a Kokiiri--get down." Leaping forward, the sword turned face-forward, so it didn't cut, he deflected a nasty ball that was launched out of the earth. The ball reflected back into the water and hit the purple monster that had launched the mucus at the young man. Whatever it was, a purple octopus with a metal cap upon its head and green hues, the ball launched into its nozzle-mouth. Screeching out in pain, the monster's lungs were clogged up, so it fell into the water dead, but kept floating down the river into the stream that led out into Hyrule.

Staring around the scenery, he saw no more of the weird octopuses, and looked down at the man who was shivering in fear. Smiling a little, he sat upon a small patch of land a few feet from the man, speaking out clearly. "Hey, don't worry, it's alright. I am not going to hurt you. Navi! What was that?" Keeping his eyes positioned on the man, he didn't dare look over at Navi, fear the man might bolt off in an attempt to escape the evil warlocks.

"They are called Octaroks, Link. They are octopuses that shoot out their own feces at enemies for a defense. It is hardened so that the ball could break a predator's skull, but luckily their own can be deflected back at them, or killed with a long range weapon." Fluttering to his side, she perked upon his shoulder and stared over at the boy with a bit of concern plastered upon her face.

"Oh, thank you sir! Thank you so much, oh how may I repay you? Hrm, I think I have a way." Reaching deep into his pants pocket, the man produced a small bag with the symbol for plant written on the brown bag only a fistful. Grabbing Link's hand, he scooted up and placed it in-between his palms. Smiling, he nodded to himself, getting himself ready, as if too go. "Sir, these are magical plants, if you put them into the ground, years may pass, but when they reach full growth the plants will grow and levitate to magical proportions."

"Wow…really?" Pulling open the small bag, inside were nine beans of multiple variations with the colours red, blue, yellow, and green mixed inside of them. Closing the cloth shut with the strings attached on it, Link placed it down on the pocket where his rubies were. Patting his sides, he turned to the man to thank him, but was short sided when he noticed the man was gone.

"Navi, where did he go?" Staring down at where the boy sat, a small patch of dirt was positioned down with a small leaf growing out of it. From Link's accusation, that was where the seeds needed to go, the man had planted the first one for him. There was nothing to do now, but wait until he ran into a few more of those patches. Not really his concern, since after this place, he was to head home to the Kokiiri Forest, but with a pit stop at Hyrule castle too.

"He ran away, Linky. Right after you opened the bag he slipped away, I would have caught him, but he dove in the water, and the current changed directions to let him out. Seems that my original plan is a bust."

"Original plan?" Leaning up against the wall, he studied the eight-foot tall gate. Yea, maybe he could scale it, but the bars on top were sharp enough to slice him into tiny pieces of Kokiiri. Slamming his foot against the stone wall on the left, he slumped down a little, staring over at Navi.

"I was planning on us using the current to drag us northward, but he changed the tide somehow. Maybe it changed on itself. We can wait until it changes back, or we can leapt across the structure--better yet, find a way over. If only we had something too glide with."

"Yea, if only we had a glider or a--" His ears picked up a distinct sound. The sound of a bawk was entered in his sensitive Hylian ears. Bursting for joy, the boy shushed her and ran back towards the original gate. Navi stayed back and watched him return thirty minutes later; a good distance for the run, bearing a small white Cucco nestled in his arms. Nodding towards her, she gave a smile and fluttered across to the land Link couldn't leap across.

No introduction was needed for Chicken Gliding lessons; he had probably invented it. Link jumped off the ledge, using the Cucco for a glider across the solemn path, which was inaccessible until now. When across, the boy bounced the Cucco on the head, letting it rest for the night. A few miles up the path, the sun just setting for the night, he came to the end of the ledge. Across the river, was the main path from before, except it opened up for a long distance, there were no more gates to worry about, were there? Leaping this jump, it being smaller than the previous, Link tucked the Cucco on his shoulders, so it wouldn't get away. Something told him he would need it before the night's end.

He noticed she was a little tired, so he cupped her inside of his hands, giggling somewhat. "Navi, should we go on? It's only seven o'clock, but if you are tired we can stop."

"No, no. I will just lay on you, if you don't mind." Seems he didn't, for she was lying on his shoulder before he could even respond to it. Nodding a bit, he patted her aura, letting the chi come off for the night, and wrapping her up inside the collar of his shirt. Tucking her in neatly, hoping the wouldn't fall off, Link pulled the chicken under his armpit and kept his pace out into the beautiful lush Zora's fountain.

Several ledges led up to many pillars that were positioned in the air; the bottom pathways were blocked with those strange Octaroks and numerous gates, so Link took the highroad in favor of the lowroad. Climbing up to the one at his west, the structure went up several hundred feet, connected to the wall and broke off with some platforms stretching out several hundreds of feet. Biting his lip, Link glided too the first one, easily landed on the next structure that was connected to the wall. To his far right was a platform with a piece of heart on it! Gasping, he glided across his early position and landed upon the platform with a simple thud. Laying the chicken on the ground, he grabbed the three fourth's part of the heart, placing the formed heart into its original keepsake.

Two other platforms led to some not-so-interesting places, just structures with nothing on them. The huge one, forty feet across and connected to the right side of the place, was the best place to be. That was where he rested for the night. Link was dead tired, as was his chicken, when they reached the huge area above the other platforms. Only a lone circle of rocks rested upon the earth. Slamming his behind in the middle, a thump sounded to his sensitive ears. This could only mean one thing, so he tried it.

Two bombs blasts later, he found a hole that led down into a hole. No ladder was attached, so falling back first; he plummeted inside of the pit. Death would have been near, but this was on the surface level, so no lava was spread for Link. He reappeared in a bright white room. Up ahead was a white gazebo with water spread upon the surface, but in the middle was a small little bed for him. Was it made for him? Right about his size, but why would a mountain set up a bed for him? It didn't make sense, but was reasoning something Link did at midnight? Dropping all his supplies and weapons (along with the sleeping cucco) on the path that led to the bed, Link trotted to the beautiful comfort zone without his socks or shoes on. Falling upon the bed, dampness was released upon him, as if a spring rain had filled up the bed, yet he wasn't wet.

Muffling him with the covers, the room darkened for him too sleep, but something came about. Millions and millions of pink orbs appeared in the night sky, like fireflies in their migration seasons. The 'fireflies' surrounded his bed, stretching all over him so that he was resting upon the little auras of pink. His realization kicked in when he felt the tongue of something on his leg, shivering he looked down too see the auras were gone and it was millions of fairies. Not a Fairie-sama's fountain, this must have been a fairie fountain. Drowsiness soon took over, the kisses making the scene all the sweeter before he sunk down into unconsciousness.

_--------------------_

"Au puise" The young sprites cooed out in their most sensual tone to the overprotective guardian. Again she shook her head with no ounce of giving in, letting them comfort the boy, but that was it. They had had a sweet taste, and wanted more of the pie. That simply wasn't happening on Navi's guard of the boy, which was forever. Never had this been a problem for Kokiiri, because the sprites helped warriors outside the forest that was their mission.

_He is now a warrior outside of the forest, silly._ The voice sounded out in a teasing tone; it had gotten better, but was still a jerk in Navi's opinion. They shared the same beliefs about Link, yet she was more of the playful type, something Navi just wasn't.

_I know that, but they don't have too be so-- _

Oh, you know you want too--you have. Oh, she was getting her fill off of this, whoever this was, seemed to enjoy teasing Navi at this game. It certainly wasn't Navi, no she wasn't crazy, and this voice started appearing the day the Deku Tree had summoned her.

Shaking her head to both the voice and the sprites, Navi turned around from the little fairies and let them do their work. The first order of business was bathing him and washing his clothes, so with close observation from Navi, the sprites washed the boy in the farie fountain water, his clothes done later on. Feeding him with some of the magic that the sprites ate (it would energize him for a day), when Link awoke he was inside of his clothes, up on the bed from before.

_--------------------_

Dreams hadn't come through his rest, only nightmares. When he awoke from the smoke of darkness, the bed was illuminated all around him, little faries were still trailing upon him, but he was washed and refreshed. Leaping from the bed, cries of protest from the sprites, he shyly leapt off of the bed and felt under his shoulder. Navi! Navi had fallen off! Crying out, he searched around the place desperately, oblivious to the fact he was having a joke played on him.

Watching from the shadows was the young girl, admiring his grace and beauty. The cry had made her come from hiding, reclining upon his shoulder, nuzzling her face into his neck. Spinning around, the boy checked his shoulder and found her peeking over the covers at him, smiling somewhat. The veil was gone for the time being, but her clothes remained the same, it was that everlasting effect, or something. He guessed Navi didn't need baths or changes of clothes, she was a fairie, and they were special.

"Where did you go!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I woke up hours before you and I see you stumbled upon the cavern of fairies, should of warned you about this place. I've never been here, but fairie caverns are usually full of female fairies that are just looking for heroes to take them. Now, since have Tui in your bottle, we can't have one. We should leave before we disappoint them."

Nodding, he waved too the fairies--which was a mistake, they all rushed at the poor boy who had to grabble up his equipment, slap it on, and run out of the cavern with no exit in a matter of seconds. All his stuff was on when they knocked him forward into the center of the hole he had come on. Just like in the graveyards, a small platform was there, that transported him back to the top of the cave. Standing himself up, he brushed the dust of the cavern off his clothes, pulled his Cucco out and stared out at the scenery, it was about ten o'clock.

"They were in a hurry."

"For you, Linky." She peered forward at the place. It was quite an area, all these new places really fascinated the young fairie so much, too think that this place wasn't hardly known to most Hylians, or anyone else for that matter. Navi fluttered forward, nodding for Link too follow, guiding him down the stone hideaway and onto a new platform near the edge of the wall. Not quite what she was aiming for, she was actually aiming up ahead past the blocked canals and steep climbing. Oh well, no one is perfect.

Touching down, the wide-awake Cucco wanted away from Link, so he bounced it unconscious again, sliding it into his sack where his supplies were stored.

"That's not very nice, Link." She whispered.

"O-oh! Hee, I didn't think you noticed…" He grinned a little, staring off to the north side, that was when he noticed the logs had some shadows upon them. Not the Octarok shadows, but something else was there, something more peaceful. Walking up too the main log that was connected to the wall (finding out it was some roots), a group of eyes stared up at him in peaceful unison. "Navi! What are those?"

"Let me check…" Submerging underwater with the veil on, she resurfaced a few seconds later, the veil shimmering off. "Some frogs. About six of them, they are just staring at you."

"Frogs, huh?"

"Don't bop them." Returning to his shoulder, she watched him stand in the center of the log and pull out his playing instrument. As soon as the ocarina was revealed, all six frogs popped out of the water and onto six little sub-branches connected to the main one.

"You want to hear a tune, frogs?"

"Yes, good sir, we shall want a tune. If you play some too us, we will reward you with some treasure." The center orange frog regarded. The others were violet, blue, green, red, and yellow, so when Link blew out the tune for the Royal Family, the center frog began to leap around more than the others do. His size went from fitting in the palm of your hand, too an armload. Link gasped a little, almost losing his balance off the branch, Navi repositioning him with her own face amazed.

"Music can sooth our ears and return us to our normal form. Thank you kind sir, here you are." A purple ruby appeared inside of Link's hands, but he smiled sheepishly.

"I can't accept this." He whispered modestly.

"Why not, kind sir, are you too generous?" The frogs spoke in unison.

Giggling, he shook his head. "No, it's just my wallet is much too small for this, I can only carry ninety-nine rubies at a time. I only have fifty now, sure, but I will be one ruby short."

"Not a problem, kind sir." The blue one chirped up and whipped back its head throwing a larger wallet in Link's hands. This little bag was twice the size of the first one, and he included his new prize in the bag when he added the rubies in. That brought his total from fifty rubies too one hundred rubies.

"Thank you, frogs. That was quite generous of you." Bowing a bit, he placed the wallet at his side where the other one used to be (the latter in the riverbank now.) The ocarina was still handy, so he played Saria's song too the frogs, followed by Malon's tune that he learned in Lon Lon Ranch. His total went up too the max of two hundred. Bidding a fond farewell, Link made his way past roots and back to land.

_--------------------_

Over the next eight hours, he spent climbing series and series of steps that led one after another past many waterfalls in the distance. The wallet was nice, but Link had wished the landing from before had been made. If it had then they would have reached this place where the Zoras were already. Six o'clock was on the brink of time, only stopping for lunch for fifteen minutes (only for Navi, Link wasn't hungry), when he reached the last area and into a huge hill with rocks for resting points.

"Navi…this has too be…a fifty foot hill!"

"Come on, sweetie, we are almost there." A pat on the shoulder she gave him, before helping him climb the hills. Her help was sometimes lifting him most of the distance, sure she could have carried him the entire way, but these were exercises to strain his muscles too their maximum.

At nine-thirty that night, a long bridge was met from the paths of no more hills. Hills were the last thing Link ever wanted too see, so the thin bridges were actually a save from the Goddesses. Each wasn't that stubby, so he was across the first in five minutes, running to the next one in the distance. When both were accomplished, the path took a twist of turns, with no accusation to the pun. The path seemed to go in five different directions, but really the grassy earth was looping around itself in five different twists. A giant waterfall was at the base, but his best concern was the corner.

Another one of those cracks of land was on the earth, but what rested upon it was none other than the second heart piece of this land. Grinning, he took no heeding and glided down his Cucco at the heart piece, otherwise not being able to reach it. Letting the chicken go, it flew off in the distance, trying to escape the painful memories of ever traveling again. Blowing out his breath, he turned to Navi. "Fourth piece."

"I thought we were on the third?"

"No, I got one last night using the Cucco, that's why I kept it. I had the feeling we might need it." Some adjustments in his pack and the heart container were absorbed into each of them, giving them a little bit more strength. Navi tested her powers by lifting Link through the loops and setting him in the middle of the waterfall. Down below his feet was a small stone square, with a box having an inscription on it. It looked like it was carved a while ago, and Link read the verse.

_Sleepless Waterfall _

_The flow of this waterfall serves the King of Hyrule. _

_When the King slumbers, so too do these falls. _

"Slumber? I wonder what it means." Navi pondered the thought out loud, as Link sat down on the platform and stared forward, listening to Navi speak aloud. These riddles weren't that hard, but all it took was some thought to solve them. Growling, he laid down upon it and stared forward into the waterfall, it was moving too fast for them too jump, he would make it, but the fall and the current speed would kill him.

"King of Hyrule, maybe they mean the lullaby? Impa-san did call it a Lullaby, maybe this is a riddle, because most people don't know that it is a Lullaby, even if they got a hold to the tune." Link thought out loud towards Navi's direction.

"Yes, if the lullaby puts the king to sleep, maybe it would put the falls too sleep, or cease them to stop moving. That's it, Linky, you are good at this!" She giggled a little, tugging for him to stand up, but he refereed to sit and play. Pulling out his ocarina from his satchel, the boy blew the tune of the Royal Family, watching as the waterfall dried off. The water came from onto Death Mountain, it was weird, but it was all gone all at once. There was no little stopping motion; it was so sudden it scared Link.

"Ready?"

"Sure, we may get caught, Navi, we really aren't supposed to be here." Shrugging a shoulder, he grinned a little. These little escapades were growing upon the boy, his fear still existed, but maybe the courage was finally revealing its true colours. Leaning for her, he blurted out.

"I am starting to like danger, anyway." Gripping her with his hands, the boy jumped the ten feet to the side of the waterfall, surprised too find out that it was made of stone. Darkness embedded the sky as it turned darker and darker, seeming the pathway to get also the midnight flush. Gulping, he trenched forward deep into the hidden city of Zoras.

_--------------------_

A domain was the only way to explain this place. After they emerged from the long corridor of darkness, the two entered a large place carved straight out of Death Mountain. The entire place was made of stone, not a bit of grass or anything else from the outside riverbanks. A winding road stretching down a few miles, and after following it, they saw that it led down into the city (or what was best described as a city.) Entirely the place consisted of a huge lake stretching across several hundreds of feet, looking as if it were many meters deep. Too deep for Link to dive in, but he could swim, not that swimming was a choice at this point.

All that was in the lake was a waterfall that led up and a large boulder in the right-hand corner of the lake, and one more near the waterfall. Shivering a bit from the cold, Link headed down towards the small shop, opened to the public, but first stood upon the carpet in the front. No, the carpet wasn't the reason to be down there, but a small torch was the reason.

"Should I try my manna?" Backing from the carpet, singing was something he didn't need, he moved towards the torch.

"Yea, give it a try, this place has to be below the temperature of Hyrule." It wasn't a snowy mountain region or anything like that, but pretty cold for a place where civilization existed. Not to be even compared to the dungeons that Link had faced, he was just cold, that was all. Spreading his legs, the boy crossed his hands, slamming his fist into the ground. Out erupted the red flames from the dust, spreading towards the torch, but when it hit, a chiming sound came out of the middle of no where. Navi recognized the sound, speaking.

"Link, the torches, it is another one of those puzzles. Light yourself a torch and find some places to light." Moving towards his pack, she came out with a Deku Stick, lit it, and places it between his palms.

The lad ran forward, water almost making him lose his balance, but realizing that it was only the shallow region of the water. Coldness stopped right above his boots, so he waded to the next torch in the middle of the water. Placing the crimson flames upon it, he noticed another region, hidden behind the waterfall where two torches stood. That was the piece of pie, for when he jumped past the deep in, saving the torch from wetness, his fire went to the other two, making another chime come about. Whisking around his feet, as out of no where, a large chest appeared. Bowing to his knees, the boy pried it open, coming upon a piece of heart.

Sticking it inside his satchel, Link made his way past the water, noticing there were tiny fish in it, but something else caught his attention. The water was swirling back and forth in different directions, not like a whirlpool. It was as if a person was swimming at an incredible speed. Moving to the edge of the shallow, the boy sat on what seemed like a cliff yelling out a call of hello.

Flurrying from the water, something jumped right infront of him, armed with a spread from both of its hands. In the shallow water, he got a full view at the creature, and boy what a view it was. Six feet of slimy scales adorned over Link, the skin wasn't really a reptilian scale, but more of the skin type amphibians had. A muscular male of this race, blue was the colour of the skin, except on the fins at its sides and the fins attached to his arms, those were green with white spots upon them. His basic form was a human with the skin of a fish, fins upon his hips and arms, plus his feet were webbed like a ducks. The most unusual feature were his eyes had no pupils in them, only a strict deep blue stared down at him, a tail attached to the back of his skull, matching the colours of the fins.

His weapon of choice was a pointy blade attached to a wooden pole, and this spear was aimed right at Link in a way of unfriendliness. The spear launched forward, Link jumping backward into a wall, his shield ricocheting him off wall into the spear's direction. Spinning him in the air, the spear connected with the shield, slamming him back against the wall. Rolling to the right, his blade went up when he spun around, hitting the wood of the spread. Farore's blade went into action, cutting the spear in half, making the fish-creature gasp out in a bit of fear. Before Link could go in for the kill, Navi flew infront of the creature, holding her hands out in both his and its direction.

"Wait, wait, wait! Please, sir, we come in peace." Navi unveiled herself to the Zora, he stared at the fairie in fascination, fairies were not something common to whatever this thing was, or so it seemed. Curiosity escaped the thing, which poked the empty pole at the man; the wood was very unknown to Link. Deku wasn't known out here, so maybe they were from some other trees, for he had seen others.

"I demand to know why you are here! You have no permission, and you certainly aren't royalty, how did you sneak in!" The wood poked at Link, who slapped it away, whining a little. The thing didn't hurt, but it certainly made him uncomfortable, so he spoke.

"We used the tune of the Royal Family that I learned from Zelda-sama, we are after-" He didn't finished his sentence, before the guard threw down the pole and lifted him upon his shoulders, laughing jovially. Before Link could even finish, the guard raised his hands and yelled out something in another language. Heads of all kinds, mostly with tails upon the backs, appeared at the water, nodded and went back in. Changing direction, the guard headed up past the shop, to the winding path that led upward, turning forward and stopped infront of a long winding path of stairs. Sitting the boy back on the ground, the guard stared down at him.

"Our outside waterfall had stopped so I believe your story. I am truly sorry." The Zora seemed sincere.

"Oh, it's fine, now could you just give us the ST--" The joyful guard, whose expression turned a bit sour, interrupted Navi.

"Now normally we would have a party in the celebration of someone from the Royal Family visiting, but we can't. Alas, our princess gone missing and we are searching desperately for her. This entrance leads up to our Zorian King; you may ask talk to him personally. Again, I apologize for the misinterpretation." Bowing in an apology, the Zora leapt off the stairs to his doom. Gasping, Link jumped towards the edge, watching the man fall gracefully into the water. Blowing a sweet sigh of relief, he pulled himself up, staring up.

"So, those were the Zora? I don't think we maybe able to get our jewel for quite a while." The young fairie stared on ahead, as the Kokiiri slimily climbed the pair of the stairs that winded sideways, turning back up forwards for the hundreds of feet into the air. He guessed they climbed to the path of the waterfall inside the domain, for when they reached the front, he heard the fall of water.

_--------------------_

_This was not well; this was not well at all. Something had happened to her, and all he could blame was that damn man from the desert. He had visited the Zoras a few days ago, somehow entering the place with the tune of the Royal Family. After the waterfall had parted, he greeted them with such a kindly manner, that the king was ready to give up the stone. His daughter was the one who had protested this whole thing, claiming that she felt a bad aura about him, proclaiming that something terrible was going to happen. _

_After discussing the matter with the bred of his late wife, the king decided that it was a good choice to keep the stones that were assigned to them by Naryu. The agreement was discussed with Ganondorf, whose expression remained pure, that was until the end of the discussion when it was simply put like this: we aren't giving the stone too you. Enraged in a manner not known to the Zoras for years, the man promised revenge on the king, and on his daughter for knocking the king' "foolish mind astray" as he put it. _

_The Zorian guards had to drag that Dragmire away from the Domain, but they were killed in a matter of seconds. Dragmire raced for the two royalties of the Zoras, but did not touch them; he simply raced out beyond the King and headed towards the Lord Jabu Jabu's home. After moving himself, the king sent his guards to check out the area, and after days of swimming, they found no trace of Ganon. _

_Lord Jabu Jabu was the same as usual, a bit grumpier than before, but no harm had come to him. It was concluded that the Jabu Jabu had either swallowed up the Gerudo, smashed him or the Gerudo knew magic and preformed a simple warping spell to escape the place. The Zoras, after all, were planning on putting him to death for insulting their king. _

_That was all a few weeks ago, but now, as he sat weeping the missing of his daughter, the king knew not what to do. Some commotion was found downstairs. Since no one came to warn him, he guessed it did the Zoras find just a misguided clue? Footsteps clad up to his chambers, that not of the Zoras. At first, he feared the Gerudo had killed all the Zora and was here for the stone, except these steps weren't as heavy as the Ganondorf's were. These steps were light on their feet, as if a child was coming. Still, they were shoes, so he knew it wasn't his Ruto. _

_Bracing himself for the intruder, the man was surprised to see that it was indeed a child! A young child of the Hylian descent, maybe a messenger of the Royal Family was here? After the Gerudo had left, he had sent out his strongest warrior that was promised to his Ruto when she came about age, but no word had come to him. Still, it was strange of the king to send a child; he may have had a sword and--was that a Hylian shield? How could a mere child brace it? Those questions fondled him, along with the little girl upon his shoulder. Not a smaller child, but a miniature adult. _

_--------------------_

"Whoa!" His expression filled a 'o' in his mouth. Up there was a platform in the center of the room, but around the left corner, there was an entrance that had to have led to the top of the waterfall. The main attraction wasn't there, because moving to the top of the four-foot platform, two torches ablating him with heat; the boy grasped reality of above. A fifteen-foot wall was at the top, a path to the right leading up to the wall, where beautiful gates of gold adorned the passage beyond that. In the center of the passage, blocking it, but also stopping most of the water from sliding through, was a Zora. This was no ordinary Zora; however, this thing had to be at least thirty feet tall.

The beast resembled the guardian in some ways, but different in others. His skin was all blue around him, except upon his swollen neck. No fins were found on his thighs, but that robe of royal colours may have hid the ones on his hands. Crimson etched with gold was laced around his body, exposing his stomach and everything below, but adorning his shoulders and back. This ones eyes had actual pupils, and the whites shone through at the new coming boy, where giant fish lips puckered up in an expression of grief. Gills that resembled mustaches exposed to the area, where a tattoo that somewhat resembled Daruina's was right below the lips. Lastly, a crown of gold sat on top of his head, a red jewel sparkled forward, obviously not a sapphire.

"Ho, ho, ho, now who is this?" Hands went to his chin, in though, exposing mounds of flesh, but no fins were attached to his upper appendages.

"I am Link, of the Kokiiri, I come in piece. But I am in search of something." He frowned.

"Are you a messenger of the Royal Family?"

"Yes, and no… I am not a messenger from the family, but I do know them." Giggling nervously, the boy peered around the room and saw no guards. That was good, for guards may not have known about him and accidentally killed him. The ones in the lake looked like citizens, so where was the army? He had read of the war between the races, and the Zoras were formidable foes.

"Let me explain this, Link," Navi spoke up, floating up to the king, stopping a few feet from his face and speaking. "I am a Fairie from the Kokiiri forest, and my friend here is a Kokiiri."

"An ancient child of the woods, my, my, I thought they had died out. You have all been so isolated for the past years, but I am surprised to see a fairie. Besides the healing, you never see them neither." The Zora King seemed pleased with this becoming.

"Hee, anyway, we were sent on a mission from the Princess to collect the three Spiritual Stones, we have collected the forest from the late Deku Tree--." The King interrupted, he had personally met the Deku Tree back in the olden days, showing that the King was pretty old, older than most of the other Zoras.

"Late? What do you mean, he has died?"

"Yes sir, the evil Ganondorf had poisoned him with a monster called Gohma. This spider we stopped, and received the jewel as a reward, then asked to travel to the Princess. She taught the tune and told us to collect the other two stones, now we have the ones from the Great Daruina, now we need yours."

Staring down at her face, then down at the boys, he nodded. "I can see your eyes, you are both very courageous, not an ounce of vile is in your aura. I would give it too you, but you see, my little one is gone from me."

"The princess? Oh, the guard told us about that. They were searching for her, is Ganondorf responsible?" Link interrupted, plopping down on the platform, to the surprise of both Navi and the king. She was about to protest, when the king chuckled loudly, his laugh killing the entire domain, letting the guards suspicious down about the mysterious boy.

"Yes…Ganondorf Dragmire is quite responsible. I believe he is, for he swore revenge and now my little Ruto has disappeared. She has her hands on the Spiritual Stone; it was a gift from my late wife, so you need to find her to get hold of the jewel. I am sorry, but I do have something for you, you see that entrance to my right?"

"Yes sir I have seen that, but what about it?" Of course he saw it.

"There is a female Zora there who will challenge you to dive down and get her rubies, accept the challenge and win. If you succeed, and believe it isn't very hard, you seem to possess skills. Anyway, if you win, then she will give you a scale of our kind. That doubles your length of passage. How far can you dive?"

"Last time I checked, three meters." Navi looked onward at the conversation, letting them converse.

"Then you shall dive six with the scale, your fairie will possess the ability to let her veil let her breath as long as you can. Now, go on, find word of my daughter and I shall reward you with the jewel of the water."

Bidding his farewell, Link bowed to the giant king and leapt off the platform into the shallow water. Waiting for Navi to return the thanks for them both, and join him, the boy groped her with his fingers while heading out into the left entrance they had seen from before. The water waded for a few yards, before he came upon the entrance of the waterfall, where a lone Zora took with her arms crossed about her chest in a resting position. The female Zoras didn't have the tails in their backs, plus, this girl had the mounds that female girls of every other race had. The other naked ones had been all right, nothing was showing, but here, he had to stare away. Moving a few feet up, he tapped her on the shoulder very lightly. Nothing at all, so he hit her arm a little roughly.

_--------------------_

Eyes popped open, again no whites in the eyes, those blue hues darted at him in hatred. That was before she noticed that it wasn't a little adolescent Zora who liked to pull tricks upon the girl with the worst job here. Everyone could dive, and they even got to keep the rubies! Shaking her head in confusion, she rubbed her eyes with her arms, they still had fins and everything, like the males, but they were a bit longer.

"W-what are you?" Kneeling down a bit, she pulled his hat back, stroking those blonde tresses to get a small feel of him. Never had she seen something so mysterious, the Hylian King she had seen, but he was old and creased with wrinkles. This one was pure, about the princesses' age, with the most beautiful hair she had ever seen. Those five digits moved his hair back, smoothing her fingers throughout them once more, before rising she, and smiling a little. "So, what brings you here, young one?"

_--------------------_

Wow, they were really soft. The surprising thing was that the skins of her fingers were soft. When the embrace was done, she asked him a question, so he stared back at her with a down look expression. Yes, he knew that Navi was right at his side with a boiling temper available for this Zora, it must have been that the creature was paying attention to him, but it was new to her to see hair and tan skin like this. Clearing his throat, he stared forward.

"We are here for the scale of your people, we want to take the test."

"Ha, that is why you are here. I guess the king sent you out on the mission, well all right. I am going to throw down fifty rubies into the water below, now you must dive down and get them--Eh? Don't give me that face, cutie. The water is so soft here that it won't hurt you, I believe you have seen us dive off. I am telling you that the impact won't crush you, as it would other water. You dive and get the rubies--it is only three meter water--then you return them back to me and I give you the Silver Scale."

"How long do I have?"

"Fifty seconds, but not to get back up here. I can see you perfectly and I will call time when you get all of the rubies, plus you can keep the fifty rubies."

"Alright, throw them." He walked to the edge, bearing his arms to dive down, but she pulled him back near him.

"No so fast, young one. The price is twenty rubies for the play, you will earn it back in the jewels, so don't worry." Letting the boy cough out twenty rubies, she threw down the two red ones, and two blue ones. Clapping her hands, she threw him off the edge of the waterfall.

_--------------------_

Navi was quiet the entire scenario, because that one just didn't need no expression for thought. It was as if she blanked out of the message and ignored the conversation, but her emotions flowed through, the reason that Link had noticed her literally steaming. Now that stage was over from the time, because when she heard Link's screaming, her stillness let through, and she peered at the crying boy. Gasping, she gripped him, but couldn't get a hold before they hit the water before.

It wasn't over, like that woman had said, for the water felt as if he had only fell from three feet, instead of the usual miles up. Her grip let go of Link when he hit, she floating in the air, and watching the boy dive deeply into the three-meter water, searching desperately for something. Oh, wait--the scale appeared to her mind, and she dove under with him, searching for the jewels too. All at thirty seconds, Link and Navi appeared holding all the jewels, when the girl yelled out 'time!' She guesses that initiated the end of the session, for Link was swimming to the shallow mark, herself having trouble keeping up with him.

"Did we win?"

'Course. We had fifty seconds, I did it in thirty-two. Pulling out of the water, he was drenched from head to toe. It seemed the powder Saria had mixed was long gone, but the effort was worth it. I guess she didn't know it would have taken too long to reach this spot. Sloshing herself off, the girl followed Link up past the winding stairs, bypassing the sleeping king's chambers, and coming to a halt right infront of the lady from seconds before. Overall, he raced up the paths in thirty seconds, sticking twenty of the rubies he gave away, letting her keep the other thirty.

_--------------------_

"I told you to keep all of them." The Zora woman said, reaching out her hands, making a small scale appear incased inside a small little tube. Sticking the extra rubies back at her side, she smiled a little, presenting him with the scale of her people. It wasn't her own, but looked fresh when it was contained inside that small watery bubble? Maybe, it wasn't a tube that was for sure.

"Couldn't, didn't have enough room. Hee!" He grabbed the scale pressing it up towards his body, but the reaction caused him to gasp a little. The little scale disappeared from his grasped; appearing down on his opposite wrist the bomb flower was on. The insignia of the Zora (that was placed on the King's neck) now appeared on his other wrist. With those two insignias, it was as if he was accepted from both races. Maybe the Deku shield was the one from the Kokiiri tribe, but since his shield was burnt--he was pressed away from that race. It was true; he was pressed from his own race, except for Saria.

"Alright, I am going to go, but…where do I use this?" He had started heading down the path, past the king, and was now on his way down the stairs, the woman was following him, her shop closed for the night.

"Why, you use it to reach Lake Hylia, but the gate is closed for the night. I am sorry about that, we all sleep underwater, but you can always sleep on that rock outside." She spoke, lifting him up a bit, letting his fairie coil up at his hat for the night. Reaching the bottom of the stairs, she pointed forward.

"The one in the water?" Navi intercepted, she was resting on the hat, not in it.

"Yes, Miss Fairie. It is very warm on the rock."

"Urm, there are no covers…" Link spoke, the Zora had dove in the water, wavering towards the rock. It was quite silent, for the other Zoras had disappeared to their underwater homes for the night.

Setting him upon the rock, she leaned forward, nuzzling him with acknowledgement before disappearing inside of the water. Blinking, the boy took off all his equipment off the large rock, laying down for a few seconds, then nodded to Navi. "She wasn't lying."

"What did she say? I just thought she kissed you…" She trailed off a bit, resettling upon hat, peering over the crest of it at him.

"She said it was soft and that I wouldn't need that covers, since they didn't use them. It is soft, so I guess we can sleep here tonight, hee! You trust them, Navi?" Stretching upon his back, the boy used his satchel as a pillow, laying his sword, shield, and side pack off at the edge of the boulders. Not so far as it would fall off, but enough so he couldn't kick it in his sleep.

"I guess we should, Linky. I don't know, I do trust the Zoras very much, but I don't trust her one little bit." The crease was too small now, so she planted herself upon his chest, sitting at the top of it, still a good distance away from her. Hrm, she couldn't help but stare forward at the boy as they talked the next few hours, eventually him falling asleep in the talking. When he finally succumbed to the evil temptress of unconsciousness, Navi coiled in the collar of his shirt, kissing his cheek gently. Giving into her own pleasure, another kiss was planted upon his lips, letting the darkness take her over.

_--------------------_

By morning he was up again, but this time a bit earlier than usual. When dawn first cracked its wings in the river of the Zoras, he was awakened by the ancient fish people and escorted right too the king. Chatting with the king for a few minutes, his stomach began to growl, for his potion was dissipated from the day before. Promptly asking for a meal, he was given a large fish, and a smaller one for Navi. Thinking it was cannibalism, he asked about it, but was given the answer that they weren't fishing at all. Zorians were actually a race of evolved mermaids from the ancient legends; it had to do with a Hylian fisherman.

At a quarter past nine, he was escorted down the halls towards the center of the lake; there the guard from yesterday stared down at the youth, asking questions to him. Such questions were his origins, the Kokiiri tribe, the other tribes he had visited, and other things of that sort. The real deal was the Zoras never traveled out of the regions of Lake Hylia or the River, so the Hylians, Gorons, Gerudos, and Kokiiri were foreign to them. After a recount of his battles, with some of the smaller Zoras, he was asked an important question. Would he find the princess?

"I guess I have too, might as well get started. Urm, where is everyone looking? Surely she isn't in this domain."

"Lake Hylia."

"Lake Hylia! Lake Hylia is past the Kokiiri Forest, how do you get that far?" Navi bewildered in amazement. Link may not have had an overview of Hyrule, but she did. It was a clear fact that the area was hundreds of miles away from the Kokiiri Forest.

"A secret passage," the guard from yesterday answered. Where they were sitting was on the steps, the lake of the domain right below, and grabbing the boy, the guard leapt down into the waters below. Submergence was weird, for as he held his breath, they swam down to the bottom of the river and through a passage that wasn't hidden before.

The intensity of the farie cavern and the graveyard filled him once more, as the warping from the Domain to a Lake hundreds of miles away, occurred. Reappearing in new surrounding, the water much cooler than at the Zoras, the Zora swam to the top, left Link there and disappeared back into the warp-hole from which he came. Grasping for air, Link swam to the top of the water, Navi right at his head, while they stared around the place, amazed. The place was huge; this lake made the size of the domain's lake look like a puddle. It was almost like an ocean, but the water spread out for miles and miles.

Fortunately, the warp point was at the beginning of the lake, so they didn't have to swim but a few miles to reach the shore. When breaching the shore, Navi took a glance around the place, reporting back in a full five minutes. That was quite a while for the ever perusing fairie, the area was just that big. It seems there was more than a lake around here, a whole observatory was available.

"How much, Navi?"

"The back of the lake reaches the ending curl of Death Mountain. I didn't imagine it was so huge, my goodness." Lifting upward, the guardian came a few feet forward and placed him upon the landing arch, that was barely underwater. Raising her hands, Navi explained that this was the only land in the entire region, a small island was at the back of region, but only a lone tombstone and a large tree stood there. Also, it could be reached by a rope bridge that stretched out as far as the eye could see, another island in the center was connected to the bridge, yet another tombstone was on there. Moving onward, there was an observatory behind them, where nothing in particular was there, except a scientist that lived amongst the aquatic creatures, a strange fellow indeed.

"This path stretches outward, as far as I can tell there are some gardens over to our right, and a small house where I think we can rest for tonight, if we get delayed. To our left, past the observatory was a land bridge that led to some grass, but the real feature is there is another waterfall. Nothing's hidden under this one, yet it led into Gerudo Valley." Her eyes lit up a bit, Dragmire's home.

"G-Gerudo! Are you sure? You mean Ganondorf's home!" He whimpered, he didn't know the people Ganondorf grew up around.

"Yes, but he isn't there. Plus, I doubt we could get in, I heard they are a bunch of thieves and you need a pass to get in. Anyway, let's search the lake for something on Princess Ruto, shall we?"

"Mmhm." Diving off the landing mark, his search started out by swimming a few miles north, working his way back and forth for some sort of clues. Navi took the same approach, except they went over towards where the gardens were shown from the ocean, searching there. No clues would turn up for hours at a time, each time he ran into small little things such as jewels, complaining Zoras, or bumped into Navi. Going their separate directions, it would have been better to scout it together, yet they needed to do this fast and get that gem.

Finally scouting out ten miles from land, the two of them met up once more, but decided to stay together. It was 'better this far out' incase they got misguided by the wind. Working together proved more efficient, the more jewels they found, the better and closer they thought that the outcome of the search was coming. Time really passed that day, no one stopped for breaks, unless Link got a cramp or felt he was about to drown, then he stopped for a few minutes. Pure horror was a great way to describe that day at the lake, after that, Link didn't like water too much.

When they started it was about nine o'clock, but when they finished it was around ten o'clock. No, not ten o'clock as in an hour later, but ten o'clock as in thirteen hours later had passed since the time they had left the lake. All the other Zoras had gone in at about around seven for the night, the warp being shut down after ridiculous warnings from guards all around, that monsters came out at night. Link just shrugged a shoulder at them, but now at around ten-thirty, he was back at the place he had dove off of, near the portal…desperately searching.

"Link! What's that!" Blowing a bright green, she fluttered underwater at a glass casing entombed under a large rock. Link had to squint a little to catch the flow, and shrugging his shoulder, dove under the water to grab the object. A few minutes later they both emerged with a glass jar in their hands. Another one of those bottles like the one Anju gave him, and like the one he got from Malon.

"A bottle…that's it! We've been searching for hours and that's it!" Crying out, he crawled out of the water, crawling towards one of the patches of grass, taking a gentle rest into it. Navi was right at his side, sighing a little too, examining the jar. Yes it was another jar with a casing, some small paper stuffed inside--paper! Doing a double take, Navi grabbed the bottle and pried it from Link's soft arms, they felt like jelly.

"I think I am going to be wrinkled as a prune the rest of my--Navi? What is it?" Before he even noticed, she had the bottle halfway open. Staring forward, he watched her yank out a small sheet of white paper, hardly visible in the moonlight, let alone water.

"Link, I think we found out clue. A message in a bottle!" Throwing the jar down upon the soft grass, she spread the note before them, reading into it. Written in Hyrulian, at least it wasn't written in Zorian, but before she could read it, Link pondered her with some questions.

"Message in a bottle? What do you mean? What's that?"

"…When people are lost at sea they send a message in a bottle for--"

"There is no sea, we are trapped by Death Mountain--" Link was touted by Navi interrupting him.

"If you let me finish! It is a sign of help, now be quiet. All right, here is what is says…" But before she could read, the letter seemed to change, the text mixing itself up into a few little different runic, Navi swore to herself silently, pushing the letter back in the bottle and slamming it down into his satchel. Scarlet struck out on her face, as if she had been played a cruel trick upon. Link's face slashed concern, as he picked her up and stared at her.

"What is it? Navi…"

"They changed it--damn. They changed it, it must be magic. It was in Hyrulian, but now it is in Zorian. We will have to wait until tomorrow." Flinching as she swore (Navi never swore), Link nodded a little, relaxing his head upon the bushels. Nothing was peeking through the pushes, so he used the thing as a bed, the house up there did look comfortable, but it stretched out for a two-mile swim.

"Sorry…" He smiled a little, curling her frustrated body up in his hand, feeling the tenseness, he rubbed her small bit. That made a moan escape her, nuzzling against that large hand, yet keeping some of her sternness up at herself. Yet, she couldn't help but looked over at him, smiling a little for showing his compassion.

"It's not your fault. I have a feeling Ruto-sama didn't write that. I believe the note, but Ganondorf may have written it. How else would her letter have gotten out if something swallowed her, they did say Jabu Jabu was a person. I think Ganondorf has discovered us--he may have been watching us since that day we saw him."

"You are right, we should get out of the open, shouldn't we? Since we are right near the Gerudo Valley, couldn't he send an assassin out too kill us?"

"We should leave, but I highly doubt an assassin could make it out here just yet. Gerudo Valley is a two-day journey from here, not to mention this is Zorian territory and they might kill the treaty they have signed."

"Treaty?" Forcing himself from the soft patch of land, Link began to walk with her over towards the lake, a mile was the distance towards where the shore gave the shortest route, so he took his chances at walking. Sea legs were not something that Link would ever acquire. Not pushing away from the conversation, he paid attention to her as she explained something.

"Saria taught you history, right?" After receiving a nod, she went on. "Well, you know the war between every race that ended about a decade ago, well after the war they all signed a treaty. The Gerudo did it only to be at peace, for they hate every race. Anyway, Death Mountain was for the Gorons, the Kokiiri had the forest (but they didn't participate in the war, so they didn't even earn it), the Hylians got the Market Place, Shiekahs got Kakariko--"

"Aren't Hylians there too?"

"Yes, Miss Impa opened it up to the public some time ago, or that's what she told me. Urm, the Zoras got the lake, domain, and the lake. It is open to everyone except the Gerudos, for they were mortal enemies. I wouldn't worry about us running into any of those." Chuckling, her eyes widened a bit, pointing behind her.

Spinning around, slapping Navi on his shoulder, his hand was on the hilt of the sword when he saw it. Just another one of those Tektites from Death Mountain, except this ones armour was blue. Must be tougher, Eh? Smirking, he leapt forward aiming for the red eye, a trick learned from the infamous Gohma. With a slash of the quick blade, Link had the thing into two halves, no screeches able to explain the pain from the sword of Farore. More were staring to appear of the horizon, so Link charged them head-on.

_--------------------_

It was more of a quick battle than a war; Link was the head one pursuit, while three of the Tektites went in three different directions to confuse him. That didn't work, Navi knew it wouldn't. For when they went out towards the closing, and pursued in for the so-called 'kill' Link had his blade held out to the left with concentration pressed upon it. A white chi appeared around his body, spreading out until it only surrounded the blade, there is shined a bright, then turned a dark crimson. Keeping his eyes locked to the ground, he let out a yell.

"Rhiu-Kiyto!" If the call hadn't been initiated then nothing else would have happened, except the chi may have gone down, but that wasn't this case. What happened was when he let go of pressing to the left; he completed a three hundred and sixty-degree spin at ground level. This was right about the time that the Tektites started to close in for their assault. Screeches were the only things that sounded as one after another, they watched themselves slit into three pieces. Yes, his sword did slice through, but before it stopped, it would do a backslash for the effect.

Grabbing his sword, slamming it into the sheath, nine pieces of Tektite appeared around the circle around him. Crossing his arms across his chest, the boy looked over at the startled Navi. Maybe it was a bit surprising, but the boy had been trying to perfect his technique ever since they left Death Mountain with it. He only did it when the night was high, so Navi was asleep, but this really was his first time using the technique in full battle. Grinning a little, his arms went up to the back of his head, stretching a bit.

"You surprised?" She now hovered over his head.

"Yes, I am. How did you get so good?"

"Maybe the heart pieces, but I have been practicing my techniques for the past few nights, not since we've been in the Zora territory. Before that, like when we were heading down the river."

"When have you been practicing?" For she also had been practicing, if they were going to train, they should do it together, not apart. Although those words that Impa spoke still rang in her ears. What if she needed to protect him one day, and could only combat separately? So, that was that, she decided to not mention her part on training, they might need to do some togetherness, though.

"Usually around midnight, for a few hours. I move away so the noise doesn't wake you--you mad?"

"Not at all. I think we all need a little training, urm, could we just go in the morning to that house. I am pretty sure it isn't an inn."

"What is it, then, Navi?" Glancing over at the wooden cabin, he was almost sure it was a cabin, but Navi had been the one to search. She had probably looked in the window and mistaken it for something else. Whatever the case, Link found another large bushel to rest in, so he piled in it, slipping his materials off, letting her lay in the grass with him. Keeping on his side, they could see each other now, as the lunar lights flared overhead.

"It's a fishing arena. It's run by some Hyrulian."

"What's the difference in them again?"

"Hylians have long ears like the Kokiiri and have psychic powers, like Zelda-sama's dream. Hyrulians are normal humans, they have round ears." Giggling, she covered herself in a bit of grass, keeping attention focused at him.

"I see, it's a fishing place. Can we check that out, I've never been fishing? I mean, there are none in the Kokiiri forest, maybe it's sort of fun? What's inside their, part of the lake?" It was interesting.

"Nope, it is a man-made lake. There is a counter where you rent rods and reels, then there is a small lake with some logs, rocks, weeds, and fish in them. Huge fish too, I even read that you get a prize for catching a huge one, something about the heart of the fish."

"Another piece of heart? I am sure we will need those in our quest, they have helped me master that technique." Yanking out his satchel, the scrounged around for some food, some of the fish cooked fish was in there from today, but not any good for a meal. Throwing the bag that it was in out to the side, Link closed his satchel, his stomach growling a bit.

"Hee, you hungry?"

"Yes, ma'am. We should have come back for supper when they called us." Now closer to the house, he could peer it on its tiny ledge, frowning a bit. If they had swum the two miles, they would have been let down, for there were no lights shining through the windows. Stretching his legs a little, he watched Navi wonder through the satchel and come out with the jar from the fairie. Popping open the top, the fairie poured out of the jar and surrounded him. Giggling, his fatigue was automatically gone, Navi's also disappearing, but the fairie left with the fatigue.

"Awe, she left."

"Only one use. You full now?"

"Yea, how long does this last?"

"Probably until lunch tomorrow, so let us rest now." Navi stared down at him, watching him contently with that smile broadening her face, yes, she was going to wait for him to fall asleep, just as she usually did the nights beforehand. It was always him going to sleep first, her admiring him, and then her finally falling down into the darkness. The mornings followed with her up first, then him, so she can admire him for the morning.

"Goodnight…Navi." Those hues rested themselves downward, while his head with the cap sunk down into the grass. Navi meanwhile just glanced upon him, watching him rest himself for the night before. Where would they go, maybe to the fishing arena to gain the piece of heart, but something else was going to happen. Maybe they would head over to Gerudo Valley for the day. If only she could find Gaebora right now, she had seen him perching upon the stones, but that had been so long ago.

Pushing off away from her little one, Navi flew past the mountains to check out for monsters. No fiends were in the area, so she was safe to travel away from Link for the time being. Catching the owl's scent, she headed over to the two little islands, searching for the feathered one. At the gravestone with the arrow inscription and the three, she found nothing at all, but when she flew over towards the nearest isle of the land, the owl was rested on there. Growling, the fairie headed towards the owl, watching it perch upon gravestone and gaze at her coming.

"Hoo, hoo, hoo! What brings you down here, young one?"

"I need a favor." Lowering her eyes, she stared down at the tombstone, reading the insignia of here lie the Zoras of the past, just some memorial. Knocking here attention away from the animal, he had to slap her with his wing to get the young ones attention. Flashing up with anger, she stared up the animal.

"Calm down, young one, what is your favor?" The owl whispered.

"We need a ride to Gerudo Valley tomorrow, do you mind?" There were certain events about this that she wanted to explore, but more than anything she wanted to have all day with him.

"Not at all, but is that really your problem." It smiled with that animalism grin of itself, they way it did it was strange, an owl could never smile regularly.

"Shut up!" Sparkling up, she fluttered away, watching the owl turn its head upside down, giving out a squawky laughter. When it did that, the thing reminded Navi of those quails, but nevertheless, she heard his voice drowning out her own little screams of frustration. The words that made her want to rip out her own hair, telling the whole word to screw themselves and those words were this: don't fall in love. Why did they all care!

Her own tears were starched across her face when she returned to him ten minutes later, some time was needed to get herself aquatinted with realty, some was needed to let it out, but most of it was to tell the others to let themselves worry about their own problems. Who cared what Gaebora thought! Who cared what the Deku Tree thought Farore rest his soul, but who cared? This wasn't supposed to be a mission that would take almost two months, this was a supposed to be a day mission. The rules had changed, and love was in the air, nothing could stop them.

_Unless he doesn't return it… _This time it was that voice that taunted out this out, in a humorous tone, as if mocking her.

_Shut up! Shut up, I say! _Navi screamed.

_He won't return it! He won't return it! _Now it had turned into a screaming match, the score was against the two of them and Navi was about to win.

_Shut up! Yes, he will! _Her mind screamed towards the voice, something had exorcised her out towards the voice.

_That proves it, prove it to me. _It sneered and cut itself off.

Grabbing his face, she pulled him into a kiss, nuzzling her face into his. Growling at the voice, as if snapping at it, the fairie nuzzled her into him, holding him with herself, letting the tears drop down from her body. It was so weird, what if she didn't return his love? No! This isn't the time, it is almost over, and we are almost done. One more jewel, we are almost there, and then we can leave and retain ours lives in the forest with the Kokiiri. Of course she knew the Kokiiri had abandoned them, they would most likely become travelers around this world, but this wasn't the time. Forgetting the voice, she nestled into him, falling asleep.


	10. Chapter IX Beyond the Boundries of Hyli

Chapter IX: Beyond the Boundaries of Hylia

Copyright: I do not own Zelda, Nintendo does. Story by Habuki productions.

Morning brought a few surprises. Link was up before her, and while up he discovered a few things about the island that she hadn't gone over the day before. Wondering over to the observatory, Navi inside of his hat, the boy had found one of those potted plants like from the Zora's domain. Laying a magic bean on there, a small root grew up as the other one had been formed. Inside the place, he found no one, but a locked door. A sign on the outside said that the scientist was hard at work, so Link left them is whoever this scientist was.

At the garden, he found a few vegetables to munch on; the fairie hadn't been used to her full power, so he was pretty hungry. Link could ponder on the other fairie, but that one might be needed for going inside Jabu Jabu. If his assumptions were right, then Jabu Jabu was really possessed (like the Deku Tree), and may have had evil spirits inside of him. On his dig through the garden, Link just came across two scarecrows; they actually frightened him, for he had never seen crows before, or scarecrows. The weirder thing was that one of them talked to him!

"Well, howdy there, and who might you be?" The topmost scarecrow spoke out loud.

_What is that?_ Spinning around, his hand on the sheath of his sword, the boy examined the scarecrow, figuring he was nice, and smiled a little shrugging a shoulder. Leaning across the iron fence that separated the scarecrows, Link stared up at him with eyes wide.

"I can see from your expression that you thought I was inanimate, yea. I get that a lot. My name is Pierre, and I am a scarecrow who adores music. Any type of music is good enough for me." Stopping for a second, the scarecrow sniffed something with a nose that wasn't there. His straw stiffened. "Mm, I smell an instrument, you wouldn't happen to have one on you, would you?"

"Yes sir, I do." Pulling out the ocarina, the scarecrow went ecstatic. He leapt upon the pole he was positioned one, holding his hands into air in a jovial manner.

"My, my! Would you happen to play a tune for me? I am have an excellent memory and would remember any tune you gave me. Come on, don't be shy, and I want one you made up, nothing authentic. If it has ever been played, I will know it, my ears do not deceive me."

Well, playing a tune from his collection was out of the collection, so he reversed the notes on Saria's tune, claiming it as his own. It was technically his own, you know. The scarecrow jumped for joy when he gave it to him, telling him to come back in a few years and visit him, only then would the song become useful. After being unanimated once again, Link wondered away from the garden with an expression of confusion on his face, yet he did write down the tune in his sheet as the Scarecrow's Song.

The fishing arena was the only other place to spend the day, so the at nine o'clock that morning, he spread out his arms and dove into Lake Hylia. Those weird creatures from before were back, the Octaroks, or whatever they were called. Link could only dive under when they came near, for if he took out his sword, he feared that it might get lost it in the one hundred feet deep water. That was right, near the entrance it was shallow, but now the scene just scared the boy to death, as if the octopuses made it any better! For an hour and half he swam at full speed, reaching the small island at about ten thirty that morning. Fully energized from the vegetables, he had no trouble scanning the small hill that led up to the tiny house at the top. In a matter of fifteen minutes, his hands latched open the wooden door, pushing inside.

_--------------------_

Discoveries were one in the same at some places, so when the boy wandered past the doors of the cabin and into the man-made lake, all saw was all the glory of it. Navi had been right, there was some sort of man-made lake sculpted out of the ground. Infront of him was a path that led to some sandy ground, then inside the circle of that was a small pond extending twenty feet across and thirty feet wide. He didn't even notice the voice, until something hooked him on the back, making him scream with surprise.

Whirled back into the air, the boy levitated for a few seconds, before he uncovered his eyes cowardly. Before him, a man with a hat was chuckling away, holding a fishing pole into his hands. Putting two and two together, the boy spotted the line sinking down towards his clothes, and the bobble hooked under his shirt. Growling, the boy threw himself off the hook, tearing a huge cut in the shirt, but landed on his bottom with an abrupt sound.

Shaking those tresses aside, his long cap having come unraveled from the scene before, the boy scooped up the headgear (his slumbering fairie, also), putting them back into position. Taking a good look at the man, he saw he was about middle aged, tan skin, and some weird shirt with different blue and red patterns sketched upon it. Link couldn't view any pants on the man, because he was sitting at a desk with a register to hold money, and fishing poles held on the back wall. On the desk were a few odds and ends, paperweights, and extra rubies. Attracting the most attention was a huge tank of water that was empty to the core. Taking a few steps forward, the boy put his hands on the counter, staring up at the Hyrulian (yea, he had small ears!), with a hat that was perked through with hooks.

_--------------------_

It was a fisherman's hat, or so the man would have said. Taking one quick look at the boy was enough to make him burst out laughing. How did a kid ever get out this far to Lake Hylia and swim the few miles to the cabin? Only the most strongly of men could earn their way out here to the lake, sometimes resting for days when the reached the cabin, but this kid looked as if he had just woken up. By Goddess, he still had sleep in his eyes, was he that fast! Grinning a little, he stared down at the boy, tipping the hat towards him. "What can I do for you, son? You lost or something?" Of course the lad wasn't.

"Oh, well…" Seemed sort of nervous, he did. "I want to go fishing, may I have a pole?"

"Fishing? Well, you seemed to come out a long way, so I guess I can give you a deal. This is an adult's fishing hole, yet there aren't many around, so I'll cut you some slack. But I am warning you…" Pulling out his finger, the man taunted the boy in the face. "The fish out here are not friendly. Sure there are some that could be around a pound or so, but some of them get as much as twenty-two pounds. If that happens, break the line, son."

"Break the line?"

Oh that was it! He couldn't help himself! Grabbing the edge of the counter, the man guffawed into the sides of his mouth, holding back the laughs as much as possible. No avail was given because for three minutes the boy sat there steamed the man laughing, and a sparkle coming lazily out of the kid's lap. Not even bothering with questions, he handed him his smallest rod, hooked with a lime green bait.

"It's twenty rubies, kid."

Pouring out twenty from his adult wallet bag, the boy stared up at him, the pole over his shoulder like a long sword. "I am ready to fish, any final thoughts?"

"Just don't--- just don't-- just don't--oh Goddess!" The man was still laughing when the boy hit him with the side of the rod, running off out into the lake. Rubbing his head gently, the middle-aged man shook his head one last time, giving them a farewell glance. It seemed like a short distance, but the end of the lake he was at. It had to be a mile out, too far for the man to see. You see, the lake may have been small, but the land was vast and rich all around that area, harboring some sea crabs, other crustaceans, and plants of all sorts. The crabs and all were indoors for the season, so he didn't warn the boy about them.

Eventful dreams soon took over his mind; this was his own business, so he didn't have to worry about anyone taking him for granted. All the Hyrulian got for his troubles were some fish from the Zora, traded with the fish-people and the solitary time by him. It was pure bliss to be out here, the erected tops hanging off themselves, shining the artificial light from the sunroof out into the real scenery, all the woods and reefs for the best fishing, and the dream that one day someone might catch ole' Mody. Yes, ole' Mody was the one he was after, a twenty-five pounder he had meant to keep for himself, spending thousands hours rooting after, but he never came close to bagging him.

Tuckering himself off, the boy watched the child from the distance, only a speck of a real manufacture. The kid caught quite a few fish, more than the man had predicted, but nothing over five pounds. That was chump change, according to the fisherman, nothing over seven was anything special, and nothing under nine could go in his hall of fame (the tank.) Not many people came out here to fish, so he really didn't have anything to put in there, plus the last one had died in a misfortunate night he had been hungry. Lazily resting his head down, he drifted off to sleep at one o'clock that afternoon.

_--------------------_

"What was that all about?" When Link reached the area as far away from the man as possible, his guardian was fully awake, letting out a cute little yawn. Looking over towards her little one, a small question pondered her inner brain. Why was Link up before him, how was he at the fisherman's house, what exactly had happened last night? Yes, the stuff from last night was blurry (not the part with Gaebora, but when she had returned to Link and the thoughts that passed therein.) Hardly recalling much of anything, the fairie lounged off his hat when the question popped.

Trying to figure the rod out, Link sat upon a rock on the beach-covered surface, studying the oak-made rod. He knew little about fishing, they fished out in the Kokiiri forest (a stream led down there), but he had never been out there. Saria's world was the outdoors, but she detested killing little fish for food, when they had all of these berries and natural supplies to benefit them. Reason is, when he first tasted meat on the outside world it was quite a surprise to him, just on how much he had been missing from the isolated forest. Grabbing the rod by the head, he launched it out into the open.

"Huh? Oh, him… I think he was laughing because I am so small…stupid man." A dumb Hyrulian was what it was.

"Oh, Linky, don't mind him. He is a simple man who thinks you are just another immature Hylian kit, but in reality, you are a fully mature Kokiiri." She nodded the young boy seemed to be growing up.

"Navi…I am not a mature Kokiiri, I am an immature Kokiiri, I am only a decade old." Letting out a giggle, he held the large pole under his armpit, pressing her flimsy body into his face.

"Mm, you act better than the others, anyway." Letting herself be nuzzled, the girl went back and did the same thing to her as he was doing to her. Not in so many motions, since she was smaller, of course.

Cuddling with her a few seconds, the boy slapped her on his pole as the line began to tug. Grasping, the boy yanked back with all his strength, the small flying through the air. Grasping the line quickly, he examined the fish with the disappointment forming in his face. The fish wasn't a fish at all; it had to have been a fish stick! Only under three pounds, the boy grasped the fish and chunked it back into the fresh underwater.

"What happened, why did you throw it back?"

"Did you see the size of that fish?"

"Looked pretty big to me, maybe it could have won." Two pounds was actually a lot for Navi, so she really couldn't tell if the ten-pounders were in there or not. Floating towards the fish, Navi peered at the fish with her eyes glaring a bit. Taking a glance over at the man, he was watching them with drooping eyes of an old pervert. Automatically her veil reappeared, going back over towards Link, she perched upon his shoulder once more.

"No, ten-pounders win the heart, I am pretty sure."

"Well, let's get to work!"

_--------------------_

Moving to the center of the pond was Link's idea of the day. At the beginning of the lake was a reef that extended out to the center of the lake, or almost to the center. After measuring the reef for its weight several times, the boy stood upon the reef and began to fish for his luck. The following three hours had been spent catching five pounders at the most, but the first scaly animal he caught was a seven-pound fish! Grasping with excitement, the boy began to fish out for the following three hours, keeping himself out of the trouble from falling in the water.

Ten pounders didn't start appearing until he caught himself an eight-pound fish, instead of throwing it away; the kid used it as bait for the other fish. It was only common in the food chain that bigger animal ate the smaller animals, not plastic little reefs he got for renting a stupid pole. The first time he used and eight-pound fish, he received an eight and a half pound fish. Using that one, he came across the nine pound one, and following the process over, he came upon the ten pounds.

Some amounts of mass seemed easier on the first impression. Ten pounds may have been easy to lift, but it wasn't easy to pull. Especially when the dreaded little 'moby dick' had its head wrapped around the line and pulled back as strong as any of the monsters he had faced. Ever since Link had come out to the reef he had been using the little string attached to the coil that you turned to yank it in. Throwing himself back in the air would land him a quick ease in the deep water, losing any fish he came into contact with. The funny thing was that when he was after the other fish, he had no need to yank the fish in that other manner, except with when multiplied by five.

Jumping upon the edges of the reef, he kept his feet apart and the rode buried between those hands that hung on for dear life, trying to keep those other stupid fish from biting at the line. Navi took the position without warning, throwing her weight against the smaller fish, scaring her off, but the real problem was getting that traumatic thing to calm down. Flaring her aura, the kind she used to blind enemies, she zapped the fish in the eyes, making a squeal erupt from the cry out. Blood splattered all over the water, just from the hook, not from the zapping or anything like that.

Chance was all in it, for when Navi blinded the fish, it gave up in the fight for survival. Pulling back all the way, he made the yank, throwing himself into the water, but held onto the pole as if he was on a cliff and the edges were the only escape. Leaping into the air, a reef to propel him upward, the boy caught the fish in the air. When he landed, halfway in the water, halfway on the coral structure, his hands still held the fish down. Surprise threw him off the coral, making him grip the fish (and the fishing pole, which he picked up before leaving), tracking back the mile in only a few minutes.

The distance didn't seem like anything, only staying on the move, so that they reached the area in under a minute. Staring up at the fisherman with disappointing eyes, the boy let out a smug growl and slammed his fist upon the wood. Nothing, nothing at all. Giving Navi a disgusted look for the man, he reached forward and put the fish before the man's lips, nada, nothing at all. Well, he had one last idea, but it was sort of a dozy Running back a few feet, the boy cupped his hands together letting out an excruciating long screech of excitement towards his direction. Sound waves picked up, and the man jutted awake with profuse intrusion.

_--------------------_

Jutting awake from the screaming of a young child, the fisherman stared forward to see the child from before. Obviously he was turning in his pole, having given up? No, that wasn't the reason at all, in his hands he held a fish consisting of what seemed more than nine pounds. Gripping the fish quickly, he slammed it upon the weight, surprised to see it far exceeded ten pounds, it went past the area of fifteen miles. How could a young child get something this heavy, how could he catch it? Not even bothering with details, the man fed the fish something from a blue bottle, putting it inside the water, where the hatch closed making the glass turn black.

"How did you c-catch something that big?"

"Used some of the smaller fish for bait, I guess. How much is it?"

"F-fifteen pounds. I can't believe you caught something that huge, that is just unbelievable." Shaking his head, the boy handed him the pole back, which he hung up generously (not even a smirk forming his lips, contradictory of this morning.) Leaning forward, the man patted the boy upon his head, searching through his bag and pulling out a fourth of a heart. He didn't know what exactly the thing was, but from the excitement in his face, it had to be something special. "You certainly earned it, whatever it is. I found it while cleaning out the pool last week and decided to postpone it as a reward, what exactly is it?"

"Well, if you earn four of these in a row, then you grow stronger and stronger." Pulling out the fourth of a piece, he connected the two together, forming a whole half. Showing the pieces off to the amazed man, the boy said his thanks and disappeared out of the door. There was something weird about that boy; he wasn't ordinary, which was for sure. Something told him that one day he would see that child again, a much older man, and he would do great things. Maybe it was his allergies acting up, but something was abyss.

Ignoring the thoughts of tonight, the man opened up the tank and checked upon his new prize. There it was fifteen pounds of fish for all the people who visited his new business to notice and ponder who caught it? His story would come out how a boy dressed in green, guarded by a sparkle of bright blue, braved the odds and captured the fish. Unfortunately, he did not have the boy's name, but he knew of a legend of the green clothed children, those from the ancient tribe. In the following morning a plaque would be placed right above the tank that said "the Kokiiri tribe wander." For now, the man would slip back to sleep at three in the afternoon. The life of a fisherman was patience that was the number one rule: patience.

_--------------------_

Shutting the door quietly, Link cupped his hands together, holding the half of a heart pressed completely together. Throwing the heart into the air, the boy pressed his index and middle finger up together, performing the peace sign. Meanwhile, Navi caught the heart piece launching it down inside of the satchel, snapping it shut. Giggling at the child, she pushed him down off the edge of the island and into the water. When his head emerged from the cerulean pool, the girl fluttered near his face.

"Why'd you do that!" Shaking those blonde tendrils back and forth, the kid stared up at the fairie.

"Hee!" Landing up on his cheeks, she rubbed them a little bit, glancing down at him. "Come on, little one, let's head back and maybe we'll make it by the end of the afternoon."

"Then we head back to the domain and deliver that letter?" Putting his feet against the edge of the island, he pressed off into the water, quickly breast stroking the entire way, on the fifteen-minute way they spoke at what the next destination was. Navi's idea was not to head back to the domain, at least until later tonight, but to take the advice of Gaebora. Yes, she still remembers the encounter with Gaebora Kaepora, that was clear in her mind, and the favor was still fresh in her young mind.

"No, we don't. I say we head to Gerudo Valley."

"But, I thought you didn't want to waste anymore time? Isn't the Gerudo home over two days away?"

"Yes, but we will be there in two hours." Grinning, her veil flashed off for the time being, then she explained her situation. Well, I shouldn't say she explained it all, there was a bit of fibbing in the story, but then again, what would it hurt? Navi explained that on her way back from the bathroom last night that she stumbled upon the infamous (or at least she thought so) Gaebora. Reminding him what Gaebora was (although he needed no remembrance); the girl went on to speak that the owl had suggested they take a trip to the thieves' valley for a few surprises.

"The owl mentioned something about some rewards at the valley."

"Rewards, like those heart pieces?"

"Maybe, maybe not." It was a fact that Navi knew that there were two pieces stored in the valley, it was just there wasn't really the location she knew. And another factor that stood was they wouldn't be able to get across the Gerudo, so those things needed to be near the area before they reached the guards gates. Hrm, that would be a problem, but if they couldn't get past them, they just couldn't. The Gerudo women were trained to fight from the day they could walk, they would easily dispatch the boy.

A fourth of an hour displayed later before he was sitting upon the grass and drying his clothes out in the afternoon sun. Nothing much else happened for the remainder of the hour, both of them taking a forty-five minute nap, awakening at ten after four. Waking himself up with the automatic alarm clock, the boy and his fairie were surprised to see the wise owl perching upon the gate, where they slept, staring at him with eyes closed. As soon as Link made the first attempt to move, though, the owl stared down at him with those yellow glaring eyes, brown feathers stretching out.

"Hoot, Hoot! Well, good afternoon, young hero. I presume your accomplice has told you about our travel plans?"

"Accomplice?" He giggled a little, nodding his head somewhat. "Yea, she told us we were going over to the Gerudo Valley, but-- you never said how we are going to get there."

"Fly, you dummy!" The 'accomplice' spoke up, shaking her head a little. "Forgive him today, Gaebora, he got too much water in his brai-" Being thrown across the ground, the girl was tackled by the Kokiiri, who began to tickle her all over. Bursting out into a fresh stream of giggles, the girl tried to tickle back, but to no avail. That forest child was just too strong at sometimes, playfully repeating over and over that he wasn't the dummy--she was. Kaepora just watched to two with a chuckling look upon his animal features.

Separating the two apart, the owl shrugged a small feathery shoulder. He tried to separate the two with the slip of his wings, but that didn't really work, for Link threw himself over to another patch of overgrown grass, continuing the tickle torture upon her. What was so strange to the owl was how gentle the boy was with her, being how fierce he could get, how could one be so gentle with a fairie only the size of his middle finger?

Finally deciding to separate the two beings, he pushed his wings between the two. That didn't help, for Link crawled over the wings in an instant, Navi flying in-between the wings, also. Throwing her head back in a squawk, his claw grabbed Link by the shirt collar, clasping the fairie with both wings pushing together. Struggling with the two for a few minutes, the kid's energy finally pushed down, slumping down somewhat, as Kaepora put Navi in Link's hat.

"Hang on, you two."

"You are gonna fly us, Kaepora?"

"But of course, little hero." Throwing his wingspan out, the flyer lifted up one hundred feet into the air, staring forward at over the horizon. There wasn't that long left until they would reach Gerudo Valley from this destination, so taking off towards the eastern horizon, Gaebora would stop until they reached the area of the thieves. Looking down at the boy, he had already fallen asleep from the air travel within the first few minutes, his ears popping the higher and higher they rose. He was very careful not to go up too high in the sky, fearing the atmospheric conditions would make him short of breath.

From the lake he would head east, along side the huge range of Death Mountain. Spiraling forward for the next hour and a half, nothing else was in order unless he ran into the occasional Peahat (which he evaded easily.) Since it wasn't nice there were no problem of the Stalchildren, but then again, they could never reach this high up, could they? An hour later went by with no activity; the mountains remained the same until they carved down into a valley. Past the structure of the valley was places were the grass grew no more.

Streaking off the grassy plains was a rooftop that extended out, guarded by a gate, but below that was the bare plains full of dirt and rock. Nothing was around this area except the occasional rocks, even the Peahats weren't in this area, and it seemed the Gerudo had the unstable environment of them all. No grass, no water, although the river was up ahead, but it seemed that it didn't rain out here and all. Gaebora hadn't been out here in a while (the first hundreds of years ago), but back then again in the past it had been beautiful as the center of Hyrule Field.

Pulling away from the breeze, the owl flapped down into the valley, pushing down into the valley that narrowed its length to just fifteen feet across. Maneuvering through the place in fifteen minutes, the owl came up to an area with a long rock bridge that led into the beginning of the Gerudo inner valley, a small little waterfall was at his right (but not the one that led to Hylia.) Flapping up a few more feet, landing just after the stone flab of rock, he pulled the two down on the ground, shaking them with their wings. Not even waiting for them to awaken, the owl flew up into the air and took off away from the valley, it gave him some bad vibes, but Navi wanted to come here for some reason.

_--------------------_

The trip was a blur to Link, it seemed like the owl had some sort of sleeping power in his talons, for he was asleep from the time he took off, until the time he heard the animal give out a screech of farewell. Sitting up, he covered his face with those hands, staring over at the land, surprised with not so much as envy. The entire place was barren; all he saw from all around were barren plains that stretched forward. Looking up, he noticed that it was just a hill, so when he climbed to the top, his discovery was a more barren land, but also a nice-looking rope bridge. It seemed this had been built for good use, the thing was ten feet wide and fifty feet across.

Carved from stone, the beginning of the bridge seemed to be. Above the bridge were two pillars that stood five feet in the air, that was what the ends of the bridge were connected to. On the other side was another pair of pillars with the opposite end of bridge connected to them. Walking ahead, the boy stepped on the footbridge as Navi began to flutter from out of his hat, staring around at him, rubbing her eyes tiredly. Giggling, he kept his hands on the rope that was used as the handrails.

"Mm, where did owl go?" Peeking ahead, there was a shadow up ahead, but it didn't seem threatening, at least from right now. What really was frightening was when he looked down at the ground. There was some way down; it reached down into the Gerudo River that would connect to Lake Hylia. No, that wasn't the scariest part of this adventure, it was the drop down that frightened him past all beyond belief. Wide-eyed, the child glanced down at the ground, feeling his legs begin to wobble a little.

"L-Link, calm down! Heights, you must be afraid of heights! Calm down, little guy, the bridge is wide, you won't fall. Stable yourself!"

Sinking down upon his knees, the boy's vision began to sink back and forward. Gaping forward, the boy grabbed the Rope Bridge, slamming into the bridge and slinging back and forth. Falling upon his back, he curled up a little bit…rocking back and forth upon the bridge, making it not seem so stable. This would have gone on for the entire time, unless Navi hadn't lifted him up and carried him the whole way, until she stopped and dropped him down on his stomach. Her eyes had jolted out in an expression of pure fear, there was no un-mistaking it, it was as if Ganondorf himself had appeared before them.

Crying out in slight pain, the boy looked up at what had scared her so bad, for when he looked at her she was shaking a little and pointing forward. Ganondorf it was not, but there was a beautiful woman just less than six feet with her arms crossed over her chest. A small scarf wrapped around her mouth, so he couldn't view her expression, but the rest of her body gave off a nice sensual glow. Her invisible aura shot off a beautiful feeling, but also a deadly feeling, because the girl was stretched inside what looking like Gypsy clothing. Gypsy clothing was strung about her body, her halter top made of silk, showing off her flat, tanned stomach, and matching violet silk pants upon her slim form. The traditional Arabian shoes lay on her feet, also. Sheathed at her side was a sword, but not like his, it was small at the bottom and curved up into a beautiful wide blade made of stainless steel (bigger than his, that was for sure.)

No armour strung across her form, but that silky red hair, which was tied up into a ponytail, glanced down as she stared down at him with cat-like yellow eyes. Her nose stuck out against the purple cover, but from the imprint, Link could make out that a grin was positioned upon her face. Bending down on her knees, the woman leaned against an Iron Gate that had to have sealed the Gerudo palace form the rest of the world. Without even asking, Link knew it was a Gerudo, and taking a few steps back, his fear of the fall dissipated.

"Where do you think you're going?" Her arms uncrossed heading for the sword, but before she could get the thing out of its sheath, Navi slammed into it and watched as it bounced off the ground and flew down into the river.

"Why you--what the hell was that!" Flailing at the dot, it easily evaded her feeble attacks with her hands. From the looks of it, the Gerudo fought like girls, but were mastered in the blade. That was a bad disadvantage for them, but a good one for Link. Flipping backward, his sword was pushed out and ready to fight (his first human opponent), it seemed this would be his first human kill. Readying himself, the child charged up at the woman, aiming for her throat and ready for the kill.

"P-please wait!" Throwing herself upon her knees, the girl burst into tears, crying softly into her hands. Link blinked a little, looking down at her, to Navi, and then back to the girl. Staring down at the sharpened blade…the boy slipped it inside of the sheath and slumped down on his knees right next to her. Grabbing her shoulders, he smiled a little and spoke sweetly.

"Hey, it's okay, I won't hurt you."

"P-promise?"

"Of course." Grinning, he shrugged a shoulder and stood up ready to speak to her, but that was when he was overtaken by a slam to the gut. Gasping, his hands fell upon his stomach, staring up at the grinning woman, eyes widened with pain. She gripped him by the collar, spitting into his face, and reached for his blade. Shaking her head, the woman walked over to the side of the bridge, dangling him over.

"I hate men…I hate boys, and I hate you." Spitting into his face, she dropped him off the edge of the bridge.

_--------------------_

This was it, this was the end. His own stupidity would be his demise, he knew from the start he should of killed her, but she just looked so sweet! He couldn't help, but feel sorry for the beautiful woman who was crying on her knees. Must be one of the attacks against the men, Eh? Seduction was a good term for it, and if he survived (of course I won't), he wouldn't fall for it again. Shaking his head, the boy cried silently as the hundreds of feet sank down from miles to miles, doing the only thing he could, which was hide his shield above him and hope it broke the impact.

Nothing would break the destruction he imagined, nothing could save him, even if Navi would get a hold of him, there was no way she could stop him and float him down the feet this valley reached. Below was a river, but the impact was going to kill him! Another alternative was that it may have been like the water in the Zorian Domain and was soft, although he knew the answer to that, since this was the same water he had spent thirteen hours scrounging in. Great, no one would ever find Ruto; she would just turn into stomach acid after a while, what a wonderful way to die!

He could feel to fluttering of Navi, trying to scream her name for help, but his voice was drowned out by the fall. How long had he been in the air, five, ten hours? He couldn't tell, but he believed it had only been a few seconds, was his life flashing before his eyes? Images of everything that had happened were weighing upon his soldiers, he was be a traitor to the Kokiiri, brother to Goron, loser to Zoras, disappointing Zelda, Ganondorf would rule the world, and Saria would have been disappointed he hadn't come to visit. Hands stretched out and grasped Navi, holding him close to her, he tried to hold it in, but the tears began to splash down his cheeks and into the air (he was falling face-first, so they streamed upward.)

Feeling and watching Navi, he saw she was crying and trying her best to help him survive. She would survive, of course, he hoped that her next master would be better than the other would. Pulling her close to him as much as she could, he whispered into her ear to find a better master next time. That made him receive a hard slap across the face, and her beginning to choke over her sobs, Goddess! He made her cry that was a heavier weight on his heart than anything else did. Holding him close, she mouthed something to him that he couldn't understand, it started with an 'L' that's all he caught.

_--------------------_

This wasn't happening! It couldn't happen this was insane! Goddess, she should have told him to cut the wenches' throat when she had thrown the sword aside, but her honesty rule of not killing something unarmed had kicked in. Vowing never to use that damned thing again, the girl had been quite surprised when she heard the boy yell and saw that nothing was where he had been two seconds ago. Viewing downward, she saw that the girl had knocked him off, spit on him, and said some awful words towards the kid. Flying up at the Gerudo's face, she brightened herself and shot a chi ball right into her forehead. There was a yowl and cursing in the ole' Gerudo language when Navi had thrown herself, spiraling a downward speed to Link.

She reached him a few seconds later, seeing he was trying the trick in the Deku Tree, but this time it wouldn't work, that valley had to be at least five hundred feet deep. He was already halfway there when she reached him and started to cuddle up with him, for she knew she couldn't stop the impact of the fall, it would kill both of them. Here's what would happen: the impact of stopping him would kill her and then he would drop the rest of the way and die. Was it better to live on her own, for she knew she couldn't live on her own? The little fairie had always been alone, but now here she was with Link and he was going to die! No, no, she wouldn't allow him to die, she wouldn't allow it. Cuddling up with him, she began to think as the seconds ticked away.

No, nothing would stop them now; nothing would stop this process, for they were doomed. All the possible choices flowed through her mind; they could land and die. They also could do some more sensible manners and try to find someway to float down, but how? Nothing in his satchel was a parachute, the satchel! Maybe they could use that as a parachute? No, it wasn't big enough; there was nothing else in here that would help them, unless it was the shield, which was the only way to do it. All that ran through Navi's mind was if the Goddesses' wanted their tasks accomplished they would have to thrown out an ole' miracle at the two.

During her thinking process he brought up the part of maybe getting a nicer master. A nicer master! How dare he, she couldn't help but slam her fist into his cheek, and cry out in curse words, cursing him for saying such words. How could he say something like that! How could he be so cruel? Beating upon his chest, the girl was surprise when he pulled her towards him and kissed her cheeks sweetly. Pushing against him, the girl yelled out at the top of her lungs "LINK! I LOVE YOU!' her voice being drowned out by the air of the wind. Cursing herself, she was about to give up when she heard the squawk.

A squawk? A cucco? Her mind rattled on for the questions to the answers, and turning sideways, she saw that to her left was a Cucco. How it got here was a mystery in itself, but a miracle was all that could explain it. Grabbing hold of the Cucco, she threw it at the weeping boy, he fumbled with it for a few seconds, but caught it around the waist. All of a sudden his impact was slowed down, as the chicken began to flap around for some pressure. The pressure stopped slowly, easing down as the falling stopped all at once. There he was, floating down to the rocks, and what was better was that there were two spaces that he could land where there were places to rest!

"Link, we did it! We're saved!" Actually, she was never in any danger, but after this experience, he thought of them two as one in the same. Her decision would have been to probably to stop the fall at only a few feet and die, for she knew she couldn't have bared to watch him splat upon the water, or the cliffs nearby. As luck would have it they were floating southward towards the higher cliff that was only twenty feet above the lower one. Coming to a full stop at the edge of the first cliff, he put the Cucco out inside of she searched around for those rewards, this may have been the place that she had mentioned earlier, but that sure wasn't the initial plan of the day.

_--------------------_

My Goddess, how could a miracle like this happen? Link had presumed himself dead, but out of the blue a Cucco appeared and Navi threw it at him. Relying on past experience, the boy floated down the rest of the way and kept he in one piece when he landed off of a ledge that wasn't quite at the end of the mountain, but a pit stop. Staring around, in utter amazement at the situation, the boy pulled the chicken into his satchel and fell upon the rock ground. Yelling at the top of his lungs, he sighed with satisfaction after the souring of his lungs. Who cared, he was alive! Oh, Goddess how could this happen, did the Gerudo throw a chicken down after them, did she feel sorry for them?

His fairie had gotten up and was already looking around the seven feet long cliff, so he got up and went after her. Curiosity was still pondering his mind on what exactly she said before, he hadn't gotten it out, but it wasn't his name (even though it started with the same letter.) The lip synch was quite different, so moving over to her, the boy sat down right infront of where she was searching and spoke to her. What he didn't notice was that there was a chest right infront of where Navi was perched.

"Navi, what did you say earlier?"

"Say, what do you mean?" Trying to crack the huge lock upon it, she began to perform Ki shots upon it until it finally snapped open.

"When we were falling. You said something that started with an 'L', but it wasn't my name."

"O-oh, that! N-nothing at all, sweetheart I was just saying stuff, I forgot, I was temporary insane." Flushing, she pushed open the chest and came out with a piece of heart, revealing it for the boy. That would wash away his questions, no doubt, because he grabbed the piece and grabbed the half of one, linking them together to form the seventy-five percent of one. Squealing and placing it down inside of his satchel, the boy stared back at her.

"How do we get down?"

"Easy, there is another cliff down there that leads right to the waterfall, you can float down the river until we reach Hylia and then we can head back to the Zoras."

"How long will that take," He scooped her up and placed him on her shoulder, walking over the edge and peering over, grabbing the Cucco, he readied himself to launch off, but waited for Navi to answer his question.

"A few hours, we should be there at nine-thirty. Judging that from the sun it is almost six o'clock, so we should be there at night. I think we should go into Jabu Jabu at night though, something tells me the hear will not be so excellent in the daytime." Pushing him off the ledge, the boy gasped out loud, grabbing onto the Cucco for all his might, and floating down the remaining way of the valley. Shrugging a quick shoulder, the boy actually agreed with her, who knows what sort of stuff was inside this giant fish (or whatever it was), it was best to come at night.

"As long as the king lets us through."

"I think he will when we show him the bottle…he was upset over his daughter's disappearance, Link."

Agreeing silently, he could tell that the king would want them to go get his daughter. He hoped she was as sweet at the king was, he may have been an old fish, but he was one of the nicest people Link had ever met. The King would respect Link for his courage, he thought he was brave for taking one of his own guards down with the sword, and agreed that if they got the stone, then they could keep it. That was best part of it, because he was wearing their symbol, and if he wore their scale, he needed to keep his honor too them. Maybe it was irony, but his Kokiiri tribe symbol was gone, since he was thrown out from the tribe. So, maybe he had to honour himself with the other ones, even though he really wasn't their race, but he was accepted as one of them. It was strange, strange and stupid in a way, yet he would keep his honor towards the Zoras and rescue the princess.

After a few minutes of floating, only six feet from the landing point, the chicken gave out of strength. Maybe he should of let it rest, or maybe he should of checked to see if it was in any bad condition, for when Link looked up the chicken was dead. There was no time to retaliate, all he did was cry out and throw the chicken down into the ground. The chicken smashed into the ground, where a little blood splashed over, but the funny part was when he hit the ground. He landed right onto of the Cucco, which exploded into millions of pieces. Crying out in disgust, the boy jumped up and stared down at the mass of pulp.

That wasn't even a chicken anymore, it was some sort of monster. Bones and entire skeleton had been ruptured into nothing, there were guts and brains scattered all around, surrounded by feathers. Those feathers were covered with red liquid, the blood obviously, and Link couldn't control it. Running over away from the waterfall (this one was about forty feet long), he hit the ground and threw up over the edge of the water. Bile had begun to form in his throat when he heard the cracks of the bones, but seeing it was so different. Watching the puke flow down the river, the boy drowned himself in the fresh water and gulped it down. Rolling away, he grabbed his stomach as the cramp form, crying out in pain. He would have rolled into the cliff, but a large foot stopped him.

"Well, what do we have hear?" A voice, feminine in speaking, rolled out from the tip of a tongue. Moving his head past the foot, he saw another Gerudo, but this one wore no weapon of choice, and was dressed in a silken suit of white that showed no parts, aside her appendages. That, however, didn't mean she wasn't dangerous. Navi was about to pounce with a blinding attack, but something told the boy to stop, so he calmed her down and cupped her inside of hands.

She must have noticed him doing something with his hands, maybe a magic spell, perhaps, so she reached in for a hit to the throat. Pushing himself backward, the boy caught his feet guard, and threw himself backwards a few more feet. Reaching for his sword, the boy stopped and watched the unarmed woman, he had some honor. No, he wouldn't attack the woman without a weapon, but holding the sword steadily in his hands, he backed away from her. Meanwhile the commotion was around, Navi slipped back behind Link and drifted off towards the waterfall.

With a gasp, he realized his fairie had deserted him. Turning around to call out her name, he was greeted with a swift kick to the back, surely would have knocked him out, had it not been for the shield. Luckily, he just pushed him to the ground, which he greeted with pushing his hands back and flipping him upwards. Landing upon his feet, the blade aimed steadily behind her, the boy nodded a quick few steps and watched her. No, she didn't seem to be going a where now, seems she underestimated a warrior, and you were to never do that (even if it was a child.)

A few minutes of yelling for Navi, his front form never leaving the Gerudo's nasty eyes, and keeping her at bay with some of the few rumbles, had really tuckered the boy out. Crying out once more, Navi returned to his side with something concealed behind her back, so he didn't see when she slipped it inside of his pocket and a clinking sound chimed. Immediately he knew what the sound was, that was the sound of a fourth of a container clicking together. That meant that the whole heart was completed, and when that happened, well, we will just see.

Ki-ing a deep blue, the boy sheathed down his sword and ran right at the Gerudo. It seemed these surges not only increased his stamina, speed, and strength, but also gave him the capabilities of something far past his normal extents, when it was charging up. That poor thief tried to throw a punch at him, which he parried by flying back against a wall, and bottle rocketing into her chin with his fist. Not aiming to break, he nicked it, causing her to break down in pain. While the girl was tending to her face, Link hit her in the side of the head with his hilt. Reclaiming the sword into the scabbard, he saw nothing else of interest and did the only normal thing to do: dive in.

_--------------------_

Navi resumed her position at his head while he fought the Gerudo, you see, she had heard the hollow trinkets of the waterfall on their way down, which only had to meant there was some hole carved in there. Taking her natural instincts for granted, she flew behind the waterfall and landed right upon a ladder that led up to the human-carved hole. Certainly not made by erosion, the block concealed a hidden brown chest that hid upon the fourth heart piece they would discover. Fluttering back to the one she protected, she handed him the piece and viewed the battle with astounded ability. The view upon his face made her beam with her own little ambition, yea, the journey out here was not just a waste of time, it was relaxation and collection four extra heart pieces sure helped the boy and her in their quest to defeat Ganondorf. From her guess, Link was nine times as strong as when he arrived, not that he was nine Kokiiri boys put together, more like he was strong as a nineteen-year-old Hylian would was.

Not even bothering to test out her own ability, she guarded the enemy, but gave no tips on how to beat the Gerudo. I mean, it wasn't hard to be an undefended woman, who was deadly nevertheless, but had to be taken care of so not to report down to her comrades. How she got down here and how she got back up was still a mystery to Navi, maybe she was an outsider? If she had been an outsider, she would have greeted them pleasantly, but no, she just had to attack them with the ferociousness. From Navi's guess, she was the Gerudo farmed of some sort, that would explain the huge cow right where she stood, a crate, and a small soaked patch of where seeds would go.

When she went to plant the seeds down inside of the patch, without Link's understanding, she heard a splash and feared the worst. The guard must have jumped in for help! Retracting around, she heard Link call her name out in a boyish laughter, pointing for her to follow him. Clutching the newly tied bag of seeds together, the fairie went after the boy. Yes, she almost caught up with him, before the water seemed to disappear, or was it dip down? A scream erupted, then a splash as Link sailed down a miniature waterfall. He was spluttering when Navi caught up with him, nestling upon his shoulder, chuckling silently.

When he finally returned back to breathing in oxygen, instead of the usual aquatic features, the boy looked over to his fairie and gave her a quiet slap on the face. She cried out loud, staring at him, holding her sore mouth with a bit of hurt in her face. Pulling a finger forward, he stroked the cheek softly, not really patting her so hard, it was just a punishment of payback for not telling him of those 'little' adventures on the rapids. Almost reading his mind, the fairie nodded and slunk down inside of his hat, which was the driest place for all. Storing those seeds with her, so not to fall out since he couldn't reach his side belt in these conditions, the fairie drifted down the sleep as Link dealt with the rapids.

And what a dealing it was! Link spent the next three hours dodging rocks, not that there were many, closing his eyes for the impact of the waterfalls, and drifting along in the loneliness of the world. It really gave him a good chance to think of some things, gave him the chances to study his options when the quest was over. Gotta get the third stone first, dummy. His mind pointed out to him in a matter-of-fact tone. Shrugging sheepishly, the boy dodged one more rock for what seemed the thousandth time.

How was he going to end this, were they going back the Kokiiri Forest to live? Man, why do I think like that, I am already banned from there, I would be living in the Lost Woods for my life. There were other options, he could stay with the Gorons, but those beasts had hugged too much. Ever since Link had been named the 'Dodongo Buster.' (Which they said with so much prides, it was gloating) the child got hugs from every type of Gorons. A Goron hug was not a very nice hug to compensate with in the matter of his already weakened bones.

Maybe stay with the Princess? Not that was a nice thought, he could stay with the Princess (even though he didn't particularly find her as his favorite person, she seemed to know too much), but the chance to train with Impa-sama was a great honour. When it came right down to it, she was his first and only sensei (unless you count the fairies, which he didn't, they just gave him the technique coordinates, anyone could do that.) He would deal with Zelda-sama, it wasn't that he didn't like her, she was pretty and all, it was just that he decided the King wouldn't want a boy a junior to his daughter living in his castle.

If I go ahead and rescue this princess, maybe here? He did enjoy fish a lot, and the fishing arena was a fun place to be. With the new scale he would have no problem staying here, and catching his own food. That was a mistake for staying with the Gorons, they made him food from the Dodongo's, but after those were gone they went back to eating rocks. His pearly whites just couldn't suffer that sort of damage from eating those hard rambles of dirt. Zoras were as good as any place as this, unless the Kokiiri could be reasoned with and understood he didn't do anything to harm them or the Deku Tree.

Maybe the Gerudos? That one gave a short laugh, he hadn't even told the Gerudos what he was and he was already dealing with their antics. Not to mention their king was the enemy of his, maybe if he killed Ganondorf then he would become the King of the Gerudos? Not a fancy title, there would be no one to mess with him, though Link didn't think he was King-material. Most likely, he would be a visitor to the forest and a drifter from town to town, maybe a mercenary of some sort? It was a sad destiny, but at least he would have his companion at his side, he would be with her forever. That was a reassurance that made him consider himself very lucky for her.

Then that other question pondered his mind, the one he had been trying to knock back for all eternity. Why was Navi so different? It is like she had changed over the time they met from the present day today, looking back on the days, he couldn't count how many. Maybe he should have brought a journal to record his history for some tales that would be told hundreds of years from the present day. Link just couldn't understand her behavior, she was different, but not in a bad way, she just seemed to get overzealous of him. The lad didn't understand why women thought he was cute; maybe it was a gift or maybe a curse, and all he understood was Navi.

Communication was different from them, sometimes it was like they could read each other's minds, and known what the other one was thinking. Yet, in this case she had some sort of mind block upon him, and just claimed that she didn't want to lose him to any of those other pretty girls. Did that mean that she thought that he-- nah, she wouldn't think of that, Navi was pretty, but she was just a fairie. They didn't--or did they have feelings like that? Staring up from his nostalgia, he noticed he was not drifting down the Gerudo River anymore, how he was sitting at the base of Lake Hylia with his waist pressed against the edge.

Four hours had actually passed by the time he found the entrance that led back to the Zora's domain, the reason that he had delayed somewhat for the heart pieces, and the fact that later on he discovered himself. When he had found himself lying on the beach, he would later discover that he had been lying on the side of the Lake Hylia for thirty minutes. Another factor was finding the entrance, without the slumbering fairies help, was going to be hard work. Link doubted they would start the dungeon today, he was just too tired to even consider venturing inside the belly of a beast.

Ruto would just have to wait another day that was the answer when Link swam inside of the door to the Zorians, pounded upon it with a message for the King, and was promptly let inside. After making his way from the curious squeals of some Zoras (including the guard, plus the sultry one), the boy was let through to the Zorian King. Now, he would have been down there too in a heartbeat, except the fact that he couldn't move. When Link went up to the platform and yanked out a letter made in the paper of the Zoras, the king was ecstatic.

"W-who is that from, young warrior?" Balling the letter up, Link chunked it up at the King, who caught it with a slick flipper. Even though the Kokiiri and his fairie couldn't decipher the message runic very well, the king was done in three minutes and proudly announced it to Link and Navi (whom had just been pushed from her early slumber by the tiring Link, whose lids needed the rest even more.)

"It says this "Please help me, I am trapped inside of Jabu Jabu's belly. Please hurry, and don't tell my father.' Her signature are there, which looks authentic, but the strange thing is that she can't conduct these sort of runic in her schooling lessons yet. It is either the opposition of Ganondorf, or he wrote the note to tease us, for we might never find it and that is where the princess has gone."

"Was her time to feed Jabu when she disappeared?" Navi blurted sleepily, wiping her eyes a bit, reclining upon Link as support from her nearly unconscious body, yet she heard the whole conversation in whole. Thank the Goddess' for the long elven ears, Eh?

"Why, when you mention it, it was her time! Oh dear me, Jabu Jabu must have been poisoned like your poor guardian and now instead of the contents being evil, he is evil instead." He was shifting his weight back and forth, when suddenly his eyes fixated upon Link. "You will go and rescue her tomorrow, or tonight? Please, let it be as soon as possible, I am ready for my daughter's safe return and I know you are ready for your present."

"Tomorrow, dear king, my partner here has been to the Gerudo Valley today looking for clues your daughter's disappearance, I think he deserves a nights rest and a full meal tomorrow, what do you say?"

"Well, of course, and when you bring her back we shall have a feast in your honour. Now, go on and eat your meal for tonight, I will have you some freshly cooked fish in the morning. Also, I want you to keep that bottle forever, it is sort of a reward. Be sure before you visit the domain of Jabu Jabu that you put a fish and water in there. The Lord would never let you into his bowels without an offering, at least for the past few weeks he hasn't.

"You actually travel inside him, how big is this guy!" -Leaning against one of the unlit torches, Link was trying to brave the conscious world, yet trying to listen to his next mission objectives, too.

"You'll see. Ah, look at you, poor thing." Clapping his fins together, two guards suddenly appeared out of no where and bowed for him to serve. When he pointed towards the tired child and his guardians, they nodded and helped him down the stairs to a hidden room in the caves, this is where a small bed was positioned, only one for him and her. There he was promptly tucked into the bed by some female Zora, stripped of his tunic and left in the bed in his undergarments for the time being.

A few minutes later, the fairie and the boy were fed a hearty meal of Octopus, probably the kind he saw a few days ago, but nevertheless he gulped it down in three portions (followed by the cleanest water he ever laid eyes upon.) While the things put him to sleep and Navi also, the crew of women came in and stripped him down to nothing. Sinking him from the bed, he was promptly given a bath and washed from all his dirty scars upon the young body. Returned to his bed in a pair of new undergarments, his tunic was replaced with sheen on it. The sheen was that sort of like the one Saria had put on for waterproof action, yet this one would be permanent and actually work in all situations.

Having replaced all his nuts and sticks with new ones, the side pack and satchel were emptied (not searched), and replaced with identical ones that were just as dry. Shield was washed and polished, along with the beautiful sword they revoked over. The Faroeians got the sword, while they got the water, why would the children have the dagger anyway? The Zorians had a magical triton that was sealed up, but who knew what the Gorons had. Finally when all the action died down, all his clothes and materials were aligned along his bedside (a fish in water in the new bottle), while the second empty one was poured with some elixir.

Commotion had finally ceased once and for all, that night he slept as sound as a baby did. He would never sleep like that again, maybe there were some weird weeds in the water, or the fish was toxin for his sleeping ordains. Whatever the case, he loved the sleep, for the nightmares were not there that night, all he dreamt of were things he used to dream of as a kid: fighting monsters, being a winner, and winning the girls, as in the story books. Except instead of Mido being the monster this time and Saria being the beautiful princess, there were two new characters in the plot. Ganondorf was the monster, and not Zelda, but Navi took the position as the beautiful damsel.

His dreams were sound and soft, as were hers. Though they never spoke of them, they both could be heard during most nights screaming and crying in their sleeps. It was torture, but relief when her own nightmares were gone from her. It had to be some special potion from the Zorians, which they wished they could thank with all the rubies in the world. Her dreams differed from hers, it wasn't a hero play, but that of a romantic, and the two together were as you guessed it: Link and Navi. The whole world was blown up, except them two, and they had to restart the population of the world. With the two slumbering beauties down, they had no idea what awaited them.

During the middle of the night, the Zorians returned and put the dried clothes upon the boy. Also, since the veil was off, Navi's clothes were washed and redone. Her body even washed, although they knew it didn't need it, when she would awake she would be as refreshed as the boy was the next day. As the Zorians left for the night, there are another slumber awakening, yet this one wasn't met with such a potion. This one was met with nightmares, belonging to a beautiful princess, her guardian holding her through the tears of pain. Elixirs like this weren't offered to the Hylians, for no one knew they had such dreams (psychic dreams, they did have, but never discussed them.)

_--------------------_

No repentance came about the fallen night, only a few hours passed. Abruptly they both awoke refitted, relaxed, and nurtured as if they were royalties. Being fed breakfast in bed didn't really seem to help the situation of being spoiled, either. After finishing his meal of fish eggs (a bland taste to them) some broiled fish, and fresh spring water; he was led to the King's chamber for one last talk with him. The talk didn't last long; the king basically explained what was going to be going on in Jabu's mouth, or his hypothesis.

He said he expected it to be a long and cruel journey, that he might spend as much as a day inside the creature, yet there was no worry, for a specific room was located inside of Jabu Jabu where they could rest the night. When Link questioned where this room was, the king flustered and began to dig through out his royal garments for something. Questioningly, Navi asked what he was looking for, yet the man ignored her and spoke something in his Zora language. After two calls to guards, they located a firm brown piece of paper, which one of them handed to the boy.

"A map?" Navi spoke up, while Link sat on the ground, spreading the small map on his lap.

"Yes, that is a map of Jabu Jabu."

"We've usually found these in the main area we were searching, before, I mean."

"Well, consider yourselves lucky, there might be a chest in there with a map, but I am helping you out so you can find the room. The room isn't located on that map, because it is so old and updated."

"Jabu created this room, then? How long ago, right before he changed." Link blurted out, clasping the map. He had seen a room that quite a while away, marked by some red ink, taking that for the room.

"No, three years ago he created if for when we would journey in him and get lost, we could always sleep there. There are some of our own supplies, so you don't have to sleep on his skin. Anyway, the venture will be tough, but I am sure you will get through it."

"Are there any enemies we should be worried about."

"There are no Youma around." The King clasped his fins together, nodding with himself. "At least, that is the last time we were in there."

"Youma, what are you--"

"Monsters, Link, it's the Zorian language, I know that much." Navi inquired, she couldn't speak the language, but knew a few odds and ends from the Deku library that Deku Tree had for the children, or fairies to study.

"You are correct, little fairie. Youma are monsters, but the last time we went in there it was empty. Now, you received a fish last night when you slept, did you not?" Not waiting for a response, because he had seen that it was put in there, the fish went on. "I want you to offer it to Jabu Jabu-sama. You see, there is a large ceremonial platform where people stand and talk to him, or offer him meals as thanks. Offer him a fish and his mouth shall open, not matter how cursed he maybe, he still eats."

"Yes, sir. I shall do it, now where is this Jabu?" He clasped the map and slipped it into his belt. The past maps were now thrown away, the compasses also (or compass), since they no longer worked whenever they left the dungeon. He had tried one on the outside area towards Death Mountain, but the stupid thing malfunctioned with all cost together. Maybe they were paired with magic that kept them there, maybe they returned? All he knew, was that his was sitting on Death Mountain trail, probably being pummeled by ten of hundreds nasty rocks. No compass was offered to them, so he figured that either the fish didn't have one, didn't want to give one, or didn't know there was a compass in there. Not taking it at rudeness, they looked onto the king who began to shift.

First time he had moved in the days they had met, the huge fish shifted from the right over to the left. He only moved an inch at a time (after each shift the gates he was behind showed a clear path open.) Finally, ten minutes later, after Link was sitting on the floor and waiting, Zora got over as far as he could and contended himself back, by rubbing his robes. Sitting up, the boy dashed up the long case that led up to where the King was. To Link's surprise, the man wasn't holding back a waterfall, but it was just an area with so much few water, he thought the place where Jabu was must have been drained completely. Turning his head towards the boy, the Zora royalty smiled a fishy smile.

"Now be careful. I seem to like you, young man, and don't want you getting yourself killed on account of my daughter. I would normally send one of my guards, but they seem to be weaker than you!" Bellowing out in a guffaw of laughter, he beat upon his chest with a precedence never to do that again. Clearing that gilled throat, he looked down at the boy with a sense of seriousness. "You are a skilled warrior, train yourself well, and succeed. Then you shall receive the my jewel."

Nodding an approval of thanks, the boy took off down into the darkness that led to a lighter edge. The Zora's words rang true in his mind, for he had never gotten such pleasure from going on one of these missions, what I mean was he usually was pushed into it. In the Kokiiri's case, he was pushed to be a true hero, in Daruina's matter, it was a survival bet, but this one was different in so many ways. This case gave him a feeling of content, that if he failed and found Ruto-sama dead, that the man would not kill him. Although, if he failed, he would want the king to kill him, he'd fell as if he betrayed himself to get so mad over a stupid stone.

When the light escaped from the darkness, Link was astounded to find that the rocks had disappeared. Hell, even the domain structure had disappeared, and what took its place was nothing short of a fountain. No, nothing was spewing about, or like the fairy's fountains, but the place stretched out about tens miles (not that Link had to swim that far. Wading through shallow water, he found the holy ceremonial platform that the king had spoken of, but he hadn't thought have been how big Jabu was.

Four pillars stretched out on each corner of the square-shaped ceremony, and the whole thing seamed to be made of rocked, yet runic of the Zorian language outstretched the entire full. At the end of the platform, near was a small barrier, Link walked up towards it and stared down at the runics. Yes, just like the letter, they were, for they changed in the form of the language he could read, his home language, Kokiirish. Kneeling before the platform, he reached inside of his weapon pack and pulled out a bottle, reading the inscription to Navi aloud.

_Those who want to enter the sacred fish; _

_Give what a fish blessed by the holy king. _

_Only then shouldst thee receive an opening; _

_To the great beyond of an open sea. _

"Open the bottle, Link, and I guess he'll open his mouth." Navi retorted, glaring around at the barrier. It was actually nothing there, no fish, nothing at all. Stretching across the left for a few miles, he caught the sight of a cave that lifted up eleven feet in the air. At his near right was a huge slab of rock that was at least a mile far, with trees extending off the horizon up to the rocky exterior. Link thought it was yet again a part of the Death Mountain trail, those mountains seemed to dominant the entire structure of Hyrule. Far off to the left, only a distance in the being, was a short island, but that was all he could see. It had to be right near the end of the fountain, for he couldn't view the full extent of it, only a gargantuan tree in the far-reach.

"Is he under the water, Navi?"

"Yea, I imagine so." It may have been shallow until they reached the platform, but when they reached after it, the water took a sudden dunk in depth. Staring over the edge of his ground, he considered he couldn't see the bottom of the fountain, it was not as deep as Lake Hylia, (he couldn't go some places in Hylia, because they were under six meters), but it gave the domain quite a challenge. Smiling a bit, he reached out for the bottle and popped the cork upon the bottle.

With a flip of the wrist, the fish fell upon the ground in a splash of water. Since the bottle wasn't that deep, the water soon evaporated in the hot sun, while the fish began to wiggle on the ground. Quite a sad sight, but with in two minutes the un-evolved Zora was dead as a doornail. Ten minutes flew by in a flash, the boy growling as he kicked the fish to the edge of the platform. It almost went in, which would have been bad, for no fish resided down in here (except the slumbering Jabu.) Crossing his arms about his waist, the boy sat down upon the ground and got into a waiting stance.

Fluttering near his shoulder, she listened in silence with him, because she knew what he was doing: he was searching for something, trying to hear a tremble, or a rumble in the oceanic floor. Nothing at all came about this, but more grumbling from the boy. Ten sixty seconds passed by their eyes, before the last wisp of power came out, it seemed it took quite a while for the scent to come to the bottom of ocean. Good enough for him, for soon he was back on his feet, grinning a little bit. Rumbling went on for the next three minutes, obviously the ascent to the floor, and then a shadow appeared right above the surface. Seeing it from his feet away, he gasped at the momentous size of it, that made anything he had ever seen disappear from his head.

Great Deku Tree rivaled the beast, rising above it in height in length, yet that was a few eons old tree, and this was a fish. Finally when the monstrous beast jumped out of the ocean, landing its head upon the end of the platform, it breathed in the scent of the fish and searched around it with pupated eyes. The beast had to at least be one hundred and sixty feet tall, its total weight was so astronomical he couldn't begin to guess at it. Flushing, the face was right near him, so he could study the monster in its full view. This had to have been the God of the Zoras, but he thought that they worshipped the Goddesses, yet maybe it was like Daruina and Deku Tree, a symbol.

Pale skin of the other Zoras did show that it was atlas half the Zora, maybe a full one, since he saw not a bit of Hylian in it. The pale skin stopped until it reached near the head, where hundred of rows of aquamarine scales aligned its his right down to the top of the tail that flapped tidal waves about. To see the view, the boy jumped back a few feet, catching Navi even further back than him. Giving a cute smile, he nodded and motioned for her to come over by his side, and finally when she did, he looked back to the beast to study it.

Right on the bridge of his nose was a golden chastise of some kind. What it meant was a grown endowed inside of his head, so that it could never be taken off, but it was known that the thing wasn't naturally made. This crown was aligned with hundreds of jewels in front, diamonds at the very most, then near the sides were rubies and emeralds. The 'crown' stopped right about where his neck was, and then that was it for its royalty. No pupils were in his eyes, just bulbous orbs that rocked inches from their sockets.

A fish backed from the platform and peered at the smaller fish, but it was strange, since the creature had never laid eyes upon a Hylian before. When the King came out to visit, they never called Jabu to rest, for he was always too busy slumbering and eating (his hibernation time was seven months a year.) Sniffing the food with great interest, instead of sucking the small fish up and opening its mouth, he raised his mouth as much as it could go, inhaling deep with great pleasure. What it thought, since the thing had fish scent on it, was that this was some sort of new breed of fish for him to taste. Sliding down his throat, the fish did, but it didn't stop there, for it began to breathe deeper and deeper for the bigger object to slither in.

"It's gonna eat me!" Squealing, Link jumped up and began to run back towards the domain. No, he would get the Zorian King to open up, but there was no way he was going to be chewed up by some smelly old fish. Crying out when his legs stopped moving, he was lifted up in the air and sucked backwards, peering Navi off to the side, her wings begging her useless. Gripping the tiny fairie, he stuck her between her paws so if they did survive those teeth, they wouldn't be separated. Yea, a stupid little thought, but it was better than succumbing to the inevitable, he knew he was going to be sucked in.

No chi magic would work upon this beast, so Link just curled himself up into a ball and gave into the darkness. The air pressure made his ears pop, as what had happened on the owl, only difference was that in the air he had been asleep, not he was in pain and crying out. Clawing upon his ears, he entered near the mouth, yet he noticed that Jabu's mouth wasn't descending shut. Maybe it was a twist a fate, irony, or just pure dumb luck, but as Link was sucked in, his face broke out into a grin, yes, he was not going to be eaten. Saying that same verse as the boy and his fairie were suckled inside, the mouth clasping shut after it.

In actuality, the fish was more of a whale. Not that it was mammal, but it ate like a whale, for it didn't chew up anything that was knocked into its system, the antibodies were for that, but instead swallowed it whole. The fish, if being normal, would have caught the scent of the Hylian and stopped its actions, also the scent of the fairie, but something was very wrong with this Jabu. It's expression was different, a emotionless aura came about it, as if it was being killed from the inside, maybe it was, or being ready to be killed. This was the punishment of Dragmire, or so it seemed, nothing could escape it, and nothing was going to let the food out.


	11. Chapter X Indwellings of the Fish

Chapter X: Indwelling of the Fish

Copyright: I do not own Zelda, Nintendo does. Story by Habuki productions.

Fish of the Zorians was sucked all the way down to the stomach, where acid poured upon it, knocking it down into proteins; the same would have been for Link, if he hadn't grabbed the piece of skin right before the mouth closed. Hanging upon the gums, the boy waited until all the passageways of Jabu's body closed, before letting go and falling in some sort of liquid. Liquid? That couldn't be good. Leaping up, he brushed the liquid off his tunic (the special power kicking in and drying instantly.) Giving a satisfactory nod, the boy crossed his arms across his chest, opening a palm to let Navi out, and looked about.

Pink was an understatement of the room. This chamber in what Link guessed to be his mouth consisted of gums all around the entire room, all pink, red near the top, and purple at the roof. Wading about the water, the boy looked back to his fairie questionably, there were no enemies about, which had quite frightened Link. Maybe they were smarter this time, had more stealth skills, and were just waiting for him to come about? Halting all movement, he gave a quick warrior's signal, and continued to explore his situation.

There was some sort of door up ahead, looked like it was made of a thick flab of skin, but no door or recognition that they were even going to get inside the room. Near the door were a few harmless bubbles, so he ignored them for now, but also near the door was dry land, as he was in the wetlands for now. Staring up at the violet ceiling, a piece of a tooth was hanging about, rotten with plaque and yellow crust upon it. Shivering, he was interrupted from his thoughts by Navi's screams.

She couldn't remember their names, but when the Octaroks appeared out of the deep end of the water, she had nothing more to do than scream. Yelling out his name with passion, she knew he wasn't going to make it, for that nasty ball of phlegm was already headed for Link's sweet young face. Firing out a chi ball, it flew through the ball, making it explode into hundreds of pieces, but it didn't stop there. No, not at all, the straight lance of energy went through the mucus and into the head of the evil octopus. Squealing in pure pain, it soon fell over dead, as its face was slowly disintegrated into ashes. The corpse slumped over to the ground, as its brother saw the action, firing a mucus ball at them.

However, Link was ready, bouncing the ball upon his sword with direct accuracy. Navi noting mentally that before this journey, he probably couldn't balance a rock upon his sword, now throwing balls off with the dull end of a sword. When it clicked with ball, it reflected back and smashed back into the face of the octopus. Not like last time, so it gave Link the distraction he needed, and while it fumed at that he moved in for a vertical strike. Throwing himself off the ground, he trusted fate and landed down with the strike right at the base of its head and slid down to the end of its groin.

Rolling forward, past the damage, and upon the dry land, the boy gave out a laugh, while behind him the thing brushed air of submission, blood pouring down its crown, glowing eyes, and through its mouth. Sinking into the only deep end in the saliva--yes, saliva, the thing sunk down towards the underworld with its sibling. Navi brushed past him, noticing the bubbles had turned from innocent floating, towards a mad rush at him, gasping, she was about to call out his name, but Link saw the bubbles and charged at them in a light rage.

Striking the first one, it popped on impact, but threw Link up against the side of Jabu's mouth when he came in close contact. Gasping in the pain of the impact, the boy sheathed his sword and tried to go for a different impact of choice. Five other bubbles were in a line, hurling towards of them; originally there were eight, though. Looking over, she saw that Navi had cleaned two bubbles off in a quick chi ball. Grinning, he flipped back, right near the door while the slingshot pulled out for battle.

Firing off a shot at the center of the bubble, it imploded inside of itself, no scream of pain, or even realization that it was alive. If he had to guess, the bubbles were inanimate before, but had been possessed by Ganondorf's evil magic. Seeing them directly behind each other, there were only two shots fired next, for each shot took two of them down at once with the right pressure applied to the seed. Finally, when the creatures had deceased their presence, he looked over towards the wall, calling out for Navi.

"What were those?"

"Shaboms, they are normal bubbles that have been corrupted. Feel no pain at all, like marionettes." His voice was a bit saddened.

"You…you pity them?"

"But of course, having no soul at all." Smiling briefly, her aura reappeared around herself, and she flew up to the tooth with a bit of fascination.

"Hey! Is that a tonsil, or something!"

"No! Looks like a lymph node, but I sense no activity in it. Shoot it with a sling!" Flaring back to him, she landed upon his shoulder, watching with that eager presentation. If her accusation was correct, this may have been some sort switch that would open the pathway to the rooms. It seemed right, since there would be none of those switches you stepped on down here, as in the previous dungeons. Dungeons, that was a nice name for these places, they certainly weren't any utopias. Her mind sank back to the scene as Link fired a seed upon the lymph with bad accuracy, missing the node.

"Missed, dang it! One more time." Pulling back, aiming right below with the band of the slingshot, he fired forward and sliced the shot with perfect accuracy. Grinning, he slipped the sling into the side of his belt (he thought he might need it later), and while doing that heard a sloshing sound. Spinning around, hand upon the hilt, he saw that the skin upon the passageway had split into four pieces and spread out into nothing, leaving an open path for the boy. Unsheathing his sword, the boy walked forward the few feet and stepped through the deep dark corridor. It seemed that the further he got in these missions, every door was usually dark.

Fortunately, this one was only a few seconds, since the skin wasn't that thick around the ridges. It opened up to a large piece of land connected to the fleshy underbrush of its insides. No, not land maybe a piece of dried crust? Oh, this place was making Link nauseous, so walking to the small section, off to his write was nothing at all; it was as if the land to the right had been stripped off to a lower level. Peering over the edge, all he saw was darkness, maybe the stomach acids were down there?

Whatever it was, he didn't want to be in the shadowy abyss. Clearing his throat softly, he turned around the study the cross-shaped room that seemed to have been ill tempered with, finally giving out the judgement that all was well here. Boxes were situated around the room, obviously things Jabu had swallowed, but nothing else resided in the air except particles of blue forming together.

"Link, what're those?" Pattering about the area of the tiny water particles forming, Navi stared at them with a deep interest in her stern gaze. Not only blue, but also violet, other cool colours were surrounded in the underneath. Giving a slight shrug to the boy, not waiting for an awnser to his question, she turned back, crossing her arms about her chest in a frustrating manner. Not knowing whether to run, attack, or leave it be, the study of evolution had baffled her this morning. Just as she was about to turn back to Link and fly over, a popping sound approached, as if the space and time warp had been vexed.

Solvating in spinning, the fairie turned a three hundred and sixty-degree angle, dashing back towards Link's side with a screech of fear. What had appeared was only a tiny little creature (soft and gooey), with a few tentacles stretching out in eight different directions. No eyes or any inanimate objects on the other sea creatures, this one didn't seem to acknowledge its own existence that was until it noticed Link. Fluttering through the air, the jellyfish's watery exterior seemed at a slow pace, picking it up whenever a current out small air would wish through the body. It would have made it too, but the child was faster, smarter, and more refluxed with fighting, so the thing never stood a chance.

Plunging in quite rage, the hilt of the sword was the only part visible when it sank into the creature that could have fit in the palm of both of Link's hands. Now, that should have been the end of it, the jellyfish was supposed to have split in up different directions, dying of blood loss, but one thing noticed is that Hyrule had no beaches. As a rule of the beach, the jellyfish was a stinging invertebrate, so what did that mean? It meant that the retracted metal was really going to give the poor boy the shock of his life into the animal kingdom, where he was ready for it or not. Navi hadn't even thought of scanning the creature, so it was to both their surprises when Link collapsed on the wet exterior of the body.

It wasn't even known how many volts of electricity burst through the boy, certainly not enough to kill him, or even that much of a electric eel. These little jellyfish were small, so they couldn't hold that much electricity at one that, which was to Link's quick advantage, when he collapsed on the ground with a scream echoing through the second section of the legendary Zorian God. Slinging the sword off to the right (slicing into the wall, making vile green blood slosh about and the room violently shake), his hands curled around his chest, throwing some bile up. Rolling away from the stink, the boy was on his knees, trying to sit himself up as Navi flew back and forth across his body checking him over.

"What happened, Link!" No answer was given, so she slapped his face, making only quick few mumbles escape. Growling, a fist slammed into his jaw, knocking him out of the misery trip. Shaking his head a little, he tried to stand up a little, failing in the process, only to wet his waterproof tunic a little more. What's worse was the creature (which after checking was called Biris) wasn't like a honeybee when it strung, that monster was only a few feet from him.

"Get away from him!" Shooting off a few manna shots, they bounced off the Biris electrical barrier that surrounded it, it seemed after each shock it grew a little and little more stronger. Standing her ground behind the boy, she began to fire off blind spells (which was pointless, the thing had no eyes!) All that resulted in was sudden stopping movements of the jellyfish, a quick glance around the room, and coming back. This only drained her own manna, but nevertheless she continued to launch the missiles at the creature. Coming just two feet before the fairie, she squealed and dived against Link's chest, hearing the heaving beatings of his rapid heard. This is it, one more shock like that and he's dead! He'll die and then I'll be ne-- Her thoughts cut off when the Biris gave out a squeal of pain.

_--------------------_

"Stupid creature." Bending over to the ground, he hawked out another load of bile, losing the beautiful breakfast he had given in for this morning, splintering his foot supplies. Backing away from the mess of bile, a triumphant smirk formed around his lips, watching the slithering Biris struggle to get up off the Deku stick that was impaled inside of it. Onto of the stick was a bomb, so as he gathered a few feet away, holding Navi to his chest, the explosion inquired leaving only charred remains, when the spoke cleared. As Navi had been despairing over death, Link had gotten to thinking about the simple fact of science.

The metal made the friction occur, so he got it in his head to use the Deku Stick instead of the sword, sure it was now in nothing, but they had escaped the perils of the jellyfish. Moving up on his feet, the boy reached into his satchel and took out three heart containers, consuming them one after another. Gasping in the refreshes, he grabbed one of those magic tubes and threw it at Navi.

She caught it with some ease, drinking half of the liter bottle and launching it back at him. When he had secured the bottle safely into his satchel, the boy looked over at her with a grin painted upon his face. Quick thinking is what had saved him, the barrier had been obvious, for when the electricity had formed, it seemed that thing hadn't shot anything off in quite a while, why wouldn't it conduct a small magic barrier? What no one accounted on was a Goron's special crop in its face. Watching her expression of amazement, he recounted on how he had figured out the simple problem in the thirty seconds they had to react to the situation.

Embarrassment caught the fairie, usually thinking she was the one that was hardened in the fast situations, happy, but disappointed that she was outlasted by her guarded. Did he need guarding anymore, was he capable on his own, now? That answer was given when he threw up once more, whining out like a small infant, so quickly returning to his side, she forced him to drink another heart container to relieve the sickness from his body. Resting only thirty minutes, the boy was up again, and on his way by the time forty five-minutes had passed (getting up was hard, his legs had been numb, so he had to walk them off.)

Across the corner, they ran into another Biris, but with a simple stab of the Deku Stick, and smashing its brains (or whatever was up there) in, he found out his shoes didn't conduct electric currents too, luckily, they had rested in a dry spot, or he would've been shocked. While taking his energy to come back, they had discovered another fleshy door to the right, where the land was cut off, but no way to reach it without plummeting to their doom. Deciding to take the chance of another door, their luck ran in, when another fleshy door was right in the room of this one. Grinning, he gave another look about the room for any signs of Princess Ruto, frowning with a start and slipped through the thin semi-darkened room.

_--------------------_

_H-how dare he, how dare he do this, the only punishment was death! The young female cried out at another one of those weird jellyfish appeared before her, shocking her wet body with the something of a grin of sodomy placed on it. It was stupid to think that, but she couldn't help it, when it came in contact with her pale, naturally wet skin. It was a much stronger current than what of the boy in the back room wood of felt was. Ruto would have gone searching for someone, she needed help, she needed it bad, but she was just too afraid to leave this room, but there were jellyfish here! Plus, the fact that the rooms were locked around her, as if concealing her from the rest of the world. _

_Occasionally a huge Jellyfish would appear out of nowhere, but she would hide under the many layers of fat to escape most of the Jelly fish, that's why this room was so good, there were layers of room to hide from them, the jellies couldn't sniff you out. As luck would have it, though, this one had seen one of her arms lying out from the last night of famished starvation. Sure, the fish could survive for weeks at a time, but how long had she been in this once-playground? A week, maybe a week in a half, there was no way to get out a message for help, so maybe they would notice the lord's strange behavior and investigate. _

_All she could think of was how that Dragmire was going to pay with his life, when she got out of here, she was the only who convinced her father to keep the stone (she'd have to marry him one day!) Shivering at the thought of marrying out of her race, she had always found Hylians, Gerudos, and the other race with the small ears to be a bit of a drag, most were too stupid in their honour to actually show bravery. All were usually stupid, running to fight a dragon with only a metal sword and shield, I mean, really! The possibility she was just looking over the stereotypical Hylian, but then why would they write those stories if they weren't true, those were history lessons, after all, or she regard them as it. _

_Hylians she could stand to be around, Gerudos were different on the other hand. She had seen only one other Gerudo in her life, a few weeks before Ganondorf came around, some Gerudo tried to attack the palace, it was really sad because the ratio of people were 1 thief to 10 Zoras. The Zorians may not have had an army like the Hylians, but they sure as well had their guards in such respectful duties. The King didn't believe in knighting guards (for they were all equally important in his eyes), so a guard was trained just as well as a Hylian knight would have been, receiving the extensive spear training. _

_Now here she was, curled under a layer of fat, her arms wrapped around herself in a quick ball, while this damned jellyfish kept pulling its tentacle under the small hole. A hole that had formed when he crawled in, poking her little fanny with it, making each shock more unbeatable than the next, sure she had only had a few of them, but they hurt so much. Squealing in pain from one that just occurred, she wished she had her stone, then she could bash its brains in with the flip of a wrist, but she just had have gone to lose it! Why couldn't she have worn something with pockets, well, it was known the Zoras were always known, since they could hide their genitalia, yet she wished she had had a bag or something. _

_Unbeknownst to her, the same feeding situation with Link had happened to her; she had been playing around with the Zora God, feeding it a fish, which is usually lapped up sweetly. Yet this new Jabu had gulped her up in quick second, her jewel swirling through the air-flowing holes and falling down to where the stomach acids were. Sure, there were nothing in the world that could burn or melt her stone, but it was the thought that counted, she hated that her stone was gone! Disappeared in the blink of an eye, and now she was sitting her crying over some stupid tentacle. Crying out again, the cry drowned out the fleshy pop that only happened when a door was being opened. Her Hylian ears perked up a bit, hearing the squeals of five Biris, almost not containing herself when she jumped out of the hole, her face deadening with terror. _

_--------------------_

"Oh, no, not again." Slapping her forehead, the third they came upon was empty upon first vial, just a huge room with some swirling holes on the bottom, actually reminding Navi of those quicksand pits mentioned in the old stories of the desert, since she had never been out there. She had decided to leave Link alone while flying out to the scan the area, coming upon some Biris, which resulted in her yell towards the boy. Yet, that wasn't the worst of it, the worst was something she didn't even know what it was. At the right end of the box-shaped room was a green tentacle of some sort poking up against the end, hiding a hole. Whatever was there, seemed to be where they needed to be, and after a few manna shots, she saw that wasn't going to happen anytime soon.

"What's up?" Jogging past the sticky holes, almost getting drained down one, Link appeared by her side and looked up at the hole with a bit of disinterest. It didn't seem like a monster, for from close view, he saw it wasn't really entrenched in them. A curvy green tentacle that stretched from the ceiling down inside the swirl hole it was pervading inside. Looking around, he caught a few Biris, making short work of them in a matter of thirty seconds. After each one, it left a soft squeal, not the kind that could be heard by anyone at all. It was as if they were decoys, so he kept his eyes out for anything strange.

"Link, don't touch that one, we'll figure it out later. Right now we have a door and four holes we can venture into, my guess is that this will take us deeper into the Jabu.

"It looked one level to me."

"Probably was hiding some of its body under the water, I dunno. I say we check out the door first, then if we find nothing, we come back here and pick a hole, I'll go to check for stomach acid, and you can follow me if its safe enough."

Safe enough… Glaring at her roughly, she giggled a patted his head a little. Letting the subject drop, he evaded the holes until he came to the center of the doorway, staring forward at it with little ease. Mm, when were they going to find this princess of the Zoras, was she dead or something? Just then his ears picked up some sort of muffled scream, and looked to the left, he didn't even have time to formulate a plan. Being thrown up against the squishy underfoot, Navi pushed him against the ground as a huge mass of jelly fell down where he stood. Picking himself up, he looked over at the huge mass, that could have been lifted in his hands, peering at it a little.

"There seems to be no electricity coursing through its veins. The Biris had a special aura about them, this one doesn't"

"My best guess is this is a home of Biris, maybe they live inside, try to strike it open, Link, but not with your sword. I think the things might still be active and would try and shock you if you so much as touch them with that metal blade, now is the time for the sticks, I guess."

Of course he knew that, but the sticks weren't quite on his mind, the Gorons special crop were, so unsheathing his sword, he dashed at the monster with infuriating anger. Navi shouted out a warning, which he waved away, grabbing a bomb from the bag and starting the fuse. Coming in close contact, he slid the end of top of the jelly that led the Biris in and out, shoving a bomb right in the entranceway of where they tried to escape. Running back with all his might, he knew that not even seconds would count now, not because of the fuse, but because of the shocking that they would do to move the bombs. Those stupid creatures followed his plan perfectly, for when they shocked the bomb, it automatically exploded leaving no remains this time, but a black stain upon the fish's body.

Chuckling a little, he had to cover his precious ears with his hands for the five screams that came out of it. Whatever they were, they were long dead, the screams echoing inside of his mind. Sheathing his sword, Link turned back towards Navi, grinning, but saw she was with a strange. Walking a few ways, he looked over at the stranger curiously.

"Y-you! Who are you!" The female stranger announced, from the looks of it she was definitely a female Zora, about a year older than he was. Developing breast had already seemed to form upon her petite figures (making the boy stare away in shame), but before he looked down there, he got a good look of the rest of her body, quite surprised of the aftermath. She didn't really resemble the Zora in some ways, staring with the bulb that was sitting upon her head, stained a deep blue, with pairs of eyes on the left and right side. Upon her face were a pair of violet eyes, a cute little face, but a nose and ears that seemed to protruded from the Hylian descent, that was right, she had pointy ears like his.

The only difference was she had some shelled skin around the ears (probably to stop ultra sonic waves, or piercing screams.) The rest of her body was as a Zora, even the flipper feet. "Who am I? Why, I am Link, was sent by your father to come rescue you."

"And, I am Navi, his guardian. We are form the Kokiiri forest."

"You lie, there is no way!" Her voice wasn't too bad; she just seemed to be in a very bad mood. Link groaned softly, looking up to her with a bit of a smile, confirming that they were indeed from the forest. It was strange how you can say you're a Gerudo, they believe you, a Goron, Zora, or Hylian, and they believe you. But a Kokiiri? Oh, Goddess forbid if you were one of those, maybe it was the way they were supposed to be extinct, and only a distinct few knew about them. Obviously they weren't going anywhere for the next few minutes, so he leaned against the wall and watched her.

"Believe us or no, you are Princess Ruto, correct?" Navi chimed on, leaving her descent from Ruto back to Link was. The fish-girl followed them with a bit of a stomp in her step, Goddess forbid if she walked a few centimeters. This was exactly why she liked the system of government where they were from, no monarchs or any of these people with supposed 'high blood.' Zelda wasn't as worse as this girl wasn't; this one was just stuck up by her nose.

"Fine, I will believe you--in time." She remarked with an evil grin, it seemed that he might have been from the forest. I mean, healing fairies didn't exactly turn blue over-night, plus the fact of his attire, the blade he bore, but the shield had her mystified, it was a Hylian shield, wasn't it? How could a boy so small carry such a large shield? Crossing her arms over her chest, she stomped her feet a bit cutely, trying to give on that tough girl appearance and began to walk away from him. "I don't need help!"

Link jumped off the wall, running after her, grabbing her by the shoulder to stop her. Receiving a slap in the face, he blinked a few times and looked to her a bit confused. When he didn't seem to get it, she slapped him again and cried out in frustration. Mumbling something about having to deal with idiots like these around the castle, but a so-called hero had to be one too. Rolling his eyes, he watched her walk a few feet, until he noticed where she was. "Hey, watch out, it's a suck hole!"

"I know what I'm doing--aiiiee!" A slurping sound occurred when she fell through the hole, Link was already in the air to catch her, missing her hand by such an inch, landing upon the hole. Grasping, he grabbed the speeding Navi and fell through the hole himself, wherever he would land was probably on top of her, so if they did fall in acid he would be saved the scars from it, anyway. Holding Navi tight, the boys looked down to see that there was solid ground, the princess just below him. Flipping his shield on his behind, he evaded her and slammed down into the ground with a clanging sound.

Before even getting a look around the room, she had appeared before his sitting form, shadowing off a dark and sinister mood. Crying out again in frustration, she tried to slap him again, yet he caught her hand with his own. With the other hand she tried the same act, which he caught again, looking her deep into the eyes, giving her the talk of her own place. There was no way he was going to endure this torture, he wasn't some stupid wimp that she could push around. "I am not one of your cronies, princess, you slap me again and I'll slap you back."

She was taken aback with fear. Never had someone actually threatened her with more than a punishment (he father, but she could tease him into stopping it.) How dare this lowly coward try to tell him on what she could do or couldn't do. Leaping up in the air, she put her feet into his chest and pushed herself off, flipping out of his grasp and landing upon he feet. She could of gone for the lower approach, but she wasn't that mean, she knew what boys had down there, Hylian or not. Sticking out her tongue in a childish manner, she giggled a little. Catching herself in the giggle, she looked down to the ground speaking something in her language.

"Watch your tongue, princess!" Navi protested, letting out a furious growl for her size. It was actually small and cute, which Link looked down at her smiling. Nodding at the comment of "watch her tongue" he took it literally and jumped near her, grabbing her blue tongue out stretching it out a few inches. Struggling with him, she did, of course, it was only natural when someone was pulling her tongue, but she did need to learn her place with him. Finally letting her tongue go, after a punch to the chest (she was strong for a girl), he fell upon the ground in a series of giggles, watching as her expressions changed from anger, a little bit of joy, sadness, and back to that infuriating rage.

"How dare you, peasant! I shall teach you your place!" Leaping upon his chest, she began to bang her fist into his chest roughly, making she boy shiver and tingle all over, before she could continue anymore, the fairie slung her off of the boy and turned him over onto his back. Where they landed was a small rock upon several others that stretched across a small landscape ten feet before. Throwing his head over the edge of the rock, he vomited for the fourth time in a while, but still, the excitement had caught him off guard. Gasping out, she approached him after he had cleaned himself up.

"A-are you okay, Link?" Finally using his first name, he gave a smile and nodded a little.

"I'm sick, I dunno, I feel bad because I got electrocuted by one of those Biris with my sword."

"Oh, my goodness, metallic objects can intensify the electrical currents up to ten times. And here I was mentally complaining about one tentacle shocking me." Damn, there she went again expressing her fingers, with a small smirk, she told him to go ahead and handle it like a man, which to her surprise he returned the smirk and nodded off. Yes, there was something between them, she didn't know yet, but maybe a rivalry could ensue, they seemed to enjoy each others company, at least she did, in her case. He was fun, yet he was a Hylian, which was weird. Ruto wasn't a jerk really, she was just raised for high-blood, so it was hard to make friends with the other Zoras, and maybe what she needed was someone that could be as cocky as she was? If that was true, she had stopped her search, for Link's enchantment of cockiness was growing as he developed in his journeys.

"So, are you gonna go with me, or not?" What was Link's general opinion of this Ruto character? Personally, he liked her a little bit more than Malon and Zelda. Malon was sweet and all, she just wasn't really a person he could be with, she was too girly, but the princess was just the opposite, she could be boyish. She even started in some of the training sessions that had ensued, getting him pinned several times, but she just had this weird thing about her, maybe it was royalty. It couldn't be, since he was with royalty now and it didn't seem to bother him. Ruto was all right in his book, yet nothing compared to Saria, Saria was girlish and boyish, she could be rough as a rogue, and gentle as a mother.

"We really need to be going, princess." Navi had remained quiet through out the whole escapade. She actually enjoyed Ruto's company too, which was the opposite of Ruto, she thought that Navi was being a little meant to end their fun. Nevertheless, Navi did like her for the reason that she didn't seem to like Link in that way at all. From the first time they met, a gaze Link didn't seem, she saw that Ruto didn't really like Hylians or Kokiiris in this case. At least she noticed that it would be too weird for a breed already in Hylian in it, to bring another into the company, but another reason was that she helped Link in growing. He was a boy, and loved to get dirty and such, she loved playing with Link, yet she was so small. This way he could get out all his energy, and yet have no worries of hurting his playmate.

"Alright, alright. Let's go." Sitting down upon the ground, she looked up at Link with an appropriate gaze of seriousness. He, on the other hand, extended an arm to lift her arm, but she didn't to seem to want to budge. Grabbing her and sitting her up, she sat back down upon the ground and looked up at him, arms crossed about her chest in anger. What did he do, he was quite confused at this moment, and scratched his head a little. Looking to Navi for some encouragement, she just shrugged a small shoulder, the veil off for the time being.

"What do you want, Ruto?"

"Pick me up, Link."

"But you can walk."

"But I am royalty."

"Do I look like I care?" Another argument, just great, Navi just went to his hat and watched silently. It was like those plays, the comedy was on, yet there was seriousness to it.

"…Well, no, but please?"

Feeling a little weakened; he was about to, but straightened himself up and shook his head back and forth furiously. "Why should I?"

"Because I said so?"

"Not good enough."

"Well, it's because me, I am naturally wet and can be shocked much easier than you. Please? Oh, please, Link?" She let out a squeal of joy when he reluctantly gave into her demands by sitting her upon his head, well, actually he sat her so that her legs were wrapped about his shoulders and she used his head as a stool. Groaning, he would rather drag her, but was surprised to find she wasn't that heavy at all and not much of a burden, plus the fact he discovered she didn't smell like a nasty fish. A flavor scent was about his nose, intoxicating him for a few minutes, which he pushed aside and gaped in the basement floor of Jabu. The tremendous room he had expected, was only the lather of it, only the size of the previous room above him. All around him tiny islands trenched around, some too far in the distance to reach, and some he might be able to propel himself off, if with the right blade maneuver. However, those all disinterested him, turning around, to catch glimpse of a flesh hole behind him.

Giving a silent nod, the boy secured Ruto's legs around his shoulders, which she grumbled a bit, but stopped when he threatened to throw her off of him. Looking up towards his friend, the fairie gave a nod to proceed on, and gently kept her away from his had and upon his shoulder (Ruto was sitting on his hat.) Taking a few steps forward, pushing his hand against the hole, it opened up and light poured out into the entranced doorway. Moving in ten steps, a new room opened up, yet only a blind path was ahead for him, the path running over a corner, so Link couldn't view what was up ahead. Keeping his sword ready for any action, the boy walked the next few feet, rounding the corner, seeing the entrance to the new room up ahead, but blocked by a seemingly endless number of Shaboms.

Reaching for a Deku Stick was next to impossible, and with the sword improbable, he had no choice but to rely upon Navi's manna skills, not that they were bad. Some fast shooting of the eight bubbles and she was back by his side with a grin plastered upon his face? Smiling brightly, the trio walked past watery remains of the bubbles, opening up into the room he had plundered for since going through the flesh. To his north was nothing but land, then a deep pit that went out a few yards, extending up to the other side was a matching path. Looking over the edge, he saw that the place had a tooth placed incidentally into the ground. There were vines around (or was that snot.) Oh, the corn silken lad was getting nauseous at these thoughts. Brushing them aside, he jumped down in the five feet deep pit, trudging across.

Coming upon the switch, he was about to push upon it when the princess upon his head gave out a startled cry of help. Looking up at her, immediately in his general directions, he saw no danger, but she was crying out so he went through the water checking for any surprises. The shallow water was only less than a foot deep, so nothing aside bugs could hide in there. Sighing, he was sitting her down in the water, when again she cried out, so he sat her upon the tooth, staring at her. "What is it?"

"W-water, I hate it." Wrapping her arms about her chest, she gave a shiver.

"But you're part fish!" Throwing his hands up in frustration, he leaned against the side of the land (or flesh) peering back at her with diverted eyes.

"I-I know, but this isn't water, Link, it's saliva and when I think about being soaked in it…" Again she grabbed herself, shivering deeply. The reason the water had arisen was she may have been smaller, but the simple fact was she weighed a less than he did. The pounds upon her simply not enough to eradicate the surface of the switch. A solution popped up in his head; he could throw the five feet, couldn't he? Of course he could! Picking her up, standing upon the switch, he pressed back and launched her upon on the platform that led up. With a squeal she landed upon the ground, rubbing her fishy behind, and looking down at him with a bit of anger, yet thanks. Shrugging his slender shoulder, the boy jumped on the switch, resetting it deep into the ground.

"I don't want to be covered in saliva, either!" He jumped from the depressed tooth and grabbed the vines of dried snot that were attached to the wall, and yanking himself up, peered over at the jump that lay before him. Yes, the vines had been to his right, so a quick throw to the northeast and he was home free, yet there proposed a new problem, one he'd never been aware of, just until now. That was the cry Ruto had given out a few minutes earlier. She may have been crying about the water, but when Link looked down, he saw four of five pairs of silted violet eyes staring up at him in orgasmic rage. Leaping to the northeast, his jump connected perfectly, leaving no time to celebrate, because soon the first of the group of monsters leapt up after him.

Spinning around with the sword unsheathed, he looked over to Navi. "What is it?" She shrugged a shoulder, beginning to scan the enemy for any statistics. Meanwhile, he gave it a little look down, surprised it had been so menacing inside the water. It was true the thing was under a foot tall, just a discus of deep violet skin with an akin of crimson eyes staring him down. The ability of flight seemed present in it, somehow, so when it sped-dove at the boy, he struck his blade out in a menacing frontal strike. A screech of pain escaped the monsters as it was impaled between the eyes, the mashes of goo from its cranial areas seeping out between the sword. With disgust, he threw the monster back upon the ground, setting his sight back to Navi.

"Stingers. As the name gives, they have electric based stingers on their bottoms, but don't worry about it. They are very weak. Since you took that one on alone, it quite a simple battle, but these next ones might not be." Did these Stingers read minds? After the second Navi finished her sentence, four of the Stringers burst from the salvia, pouring out of the water and closed in upon him. Disaster was spelt, as Ruto ran to the fleshy door, looking up to Link for some recognition. Nothing mattered at this time, anything was going to save him, and watching as they wretched in four behind position, electricity crackling through the end of each tail, he fell to his knees and buried himself with the shield.

"Nai Sui Fo!" From out of nowhere, a whirlpool tormented out of the arisen saliva. As if claiming its young, the whirlpool broke into four tiny nozzles, gathering up the four little tyrants and pushing down deep into the surface of the water. Blinking with confusion, the boy had watched the entire episode from the comfort of his own shield. Not recognizing the words as a skill or chant of fairish, he looked to Navi, who was pointing behind her with her hands clasped to her cheeks, they exposing red. The princess had her hands extended forward, curving into a circle, the fresh memory of incantations fresh upon her lips. Giving a little smile, she walked over to him, patting him upon the head. "It's alright, I know you can't fight…"

"C-Can't fight! What are you talking about, and just what was that!"

"The Nai Sui Fo, or better translated as whirlpool. I am a Zora, so I can conduct aquatic activities, not like a god or anything, but I can control some water substances. And, yes you are a wimp." Poking his nose with her finger, he snapped at her, making her jump back and sit down back upon her behind. An urge to throw her off of his arms and into the ground probed his mind, the good conscious pushing the nasty thought away. Best to leave it alone for now, his mind spoke to him, and yet he couldn't help but he infuriated at being called a wimp. How could she get off saying that he was a wimp? He wasn't the one who ran to the corner and who cries over water, but this only encouraged him to show off some heretics to prove himself to her.

Without further hesitation, Link gathered her up and carried the blue-bulb girl through the door that stood only a few feet behind him. As soon as exiting from the tranquility of the room, checking the map for some explanations of the hidden room, he found something he least expected: an elevator. Yes, an elevator was positioned in the small room that contained only that and a pool of water below, something he compensated with stomach acid. He wasn't going to try his luck out, so he leapt the three feet to the elevator, when landing upon it, the thing sped up towards its destination, but where was? His answers were silently answered when he stepped back into a land of vagueness. Yes, he was back in the room they had fallen out of; the Biris still dead from before.

Resting his assurance, no more of those stupid levels below anymore, he did even bother to view the room over; there wasn't a danger around anyway. The room was led through in a matter of minutes, dodging some of the reforming Biris he hadn't noticed by first glance, but the big pod of a Biris wasn't hanging around anymore, he figured that one was dead as a doornail. Doornails didn't matter when he passed the path that the thing had preyed upon earlier, checking up for reassurance. No telling what could reform in the half an hour they had been wondering, his guess was just as good as anyone else's. Looking up at Ruto, he noticed for the first time she had sunk asleep.

Silently looking over to Navi, she also was curled up in the collar of his shirt, slumbering for the battles to come. Oh, great, all the women sleep, while the 'wimp' has to stay awake and deal with the puzzles! Nah, he didn't really mind at all, it was better for Navi to recharge herself for some harsher battles, and Ruto was a princess, so she was used to pampering. Leaning against the crack of flesh right before the door, he rested his aching body from the small weight of Ruto. If they ever ran into the damned hidden room, he was going to put her in there and leave her until they ran into her stone, then they could leave this junk pile.

She had explained she always used to play around in Jabu, but new areas had been completed…who plays inside of a huge fish, that was the million-ruby question that baffled Link. Repressing his leisure, he unleaded from the wall and walked infront of the door, taping it with the reverse side of his sword. A small squeal and the door opened up.

In the blink of an eye, he had run into the center of the new room, since nothing was at the beginning, shaking his head in a sort of sad pity. Surrounding him north were three different pathways that led north, northeast, and northwest. To his west and east were two other paths, totaling in five different paths in one room. What's worse, was each was filled with the strangest skin he had ever seen, the skin seemed to be revolving back and forth, so if he didn't move quick, he was dragged back to the center, and each room had these! Actually, some of the rooms were blocked by various reasons, some needing more weight than he had, some with thinner tentacles like the one in the main room, and some just wouldn't open for films of snot were placed across the top. After checking them all, his choices limited down to only two or so. Then he chose the closest entrance, the east.

As he was headed out to the eastern direction, something latching upon his ankle in a painful manner. Falling back, Ruto slammed into the soft call, coming awake in an instant, and gasping in fear. Shrieking, she sat down, pulling herself away from the helpless boy and back a few feet away. Turning around, he caught wind of some sort of parasitic insect latched upon his leg with its jaw seeping down into his ankle. Blood must have scared her, probably because they don't have red blood? His guess was blue, if any, but then again the Kokiiris didn't have peach blood. Reaching for his sword, finding it misplaced it saw that the floors had really been against him this time, for it was stuck in-between a hedge at least ten feet away.

"Help me!"

"I-I-I can't." She blubbered out miserably.

"Help me or I die, please. You don't have to fight, grab my sword--!" Crying out, the grip upon his legs tightened a fresh stream of crimson pouring down in his boots. Ruto shrieked again, shaking his head and curling up into a small ball, shivering as best she could, crying her eyes out in pain. Cursing silently, the boy looked up to where his fairie was, yet she wasn't there. Gasping, he was about to call her name when the grip around his leg was gone, and something was kissing upon it. Down there was Navi, freshly charged from manna shot, but yet held up a small potion.

"Wait, don't let it go…we need it." The cork was gone before he could even finish the second part of the sentence the potion was applied to the wound. It was so great that it needed to be or infection was a great risk, plus his running abilities would be hurt until then. Wrapping it up in a slick bandage, the boy tightened it enough and pulled his boots up enough so it would hardly be seen. They were saving the healing sprite for if Link went unconscious; it wouldn't completely heal him, but revive him and give him a good advantage point. Sure the wounds would leave a few scars, but those were expected. Besides that, it was all right, but his attention wasn't with Navi of the sprite, he turned towards the hidden Ruto, whom had since some out of her depressed manner, staring at the ground sulking.

Now, Link's temper wasn't that great, so he calmed down when he saw a few tears pouring from those big eyes, looking off to the side and whispering her sorry. Nodding silently, he picked himself up, testing the leg out (which was good as new), and walked over to comfort her, only stopped by a fuming Navi.

"Show some backbone! You should have gone and gotten his sword, if it wasn't for me that thing would have cut his leg off and killed him, then coming after you!" Her anger burst more than it had for Anju did, and the simple fact was that this girl had endangered Link in some serious trouble. Panting up and down, she noticed the cries, but only scoffed a little. "Grow up" was her only response to the tears, telling her if she really wanted to be a good princess, then she needed to not be afraid of a small centipede that could fit in the palm in her hand. Navi wouldn't even let the girl weight her evidence in, it just wasn't any good with Navi, and she had to have Link hold her, to calm her down, shushing her silently.

While she was being shushed, Ruto collapsed on the ground, sobbing her heart's content out with every breath she could. Not holding anything back, she buried her face into the skin, crying out deeper and deeper for his forgiveness, that she hadn't meant any harm by it, it was just she was going to get it, but something had stopped her, something on his leg. Being picked off the ground, Link (after escorting Navi in his hat) wrapped his arms around the trembling Zora, letting her cry all she want, while he quietly whispered that the differences between the Kokiiri and the Zora blood. After a few minutes she was a little better, the sobs having turned into little sniffles, still curled up in his arms.

Sitting in the center of the room, the only room without a moving floor, he reached over the grabbed his sword, re-sheathing it back down. Staring down at her, he saw she was about to burst into tears again, but put a finger up to her lips and shook his head silently. Another few ramblings of how much it hurt, if he wanted to hurt her, and about Navi rolled through her tongue, Navi having heard the things, of course. She asked how she could be so cruel to her, if she was mean to other people and stuff like that. Link found it hard to explain Navi to her, and he came out with "she's a very complex person", she has initiate, doesn't like other people sometimes, but she isn't bad."

"You think she hates me?"

"Of course not. Listen, when I first met Navi she didn't like me very well, either, she thought I was sort of spoiled by Saria."

"W-whose that?" She asked curiously, now that he was sitting down and, she was sitting in his lap, staring up at him with those eyes wide with curiosity. Link couldn't help, but smile and tell her all about himself.

"Oh, Saria is like my foster mother, my friend, and my sister. She raised me, but isn't a real mother, she acts like one sometimes, and did spoil me a lot by keeping me inside most of the time and away from the others."

"They didn't like you?"

"Nah, I didn't have Navi at the time, I was known as "the boy without a fairie" until she came to visit me about, oh, going on two months or so now. " Smiling, he told her the entire story of their journey, how the monsters they battled, who they fought, about Zelda, Ganondorf, the adventures in Hylia, Daruina, and some of the Deku Tree.

Time had really flied, for when Navi came out, she announced that the two had been at it for two hours. Gasping with surprise, he looked up at her with surprise, she giving a comforting nod. Her eyes were a bit red, as if she had been asleep, but the anger seemed to swell down. Looking over at Ruto, she smiled apologetically, which Ruto nodded and smiled back at her, extending out a hand. "Friends?"

"Friends." Ruto answered back, taking the small hand inside of her fin one. So different between the races, yet so common that they would get along for the common bond to appease Link. Clasping both of their hands together, he smiled sweetly and picked Ruto back up, sitting her back on his head, first grabbing his hat and stuffing it down in his belt. Picking Navi up gently, she was sat back on his collar, where she could slip back to sleep. Looking forward, he noticed the two weren't going to go back to sleep for quite some while, which was all right with him, he rather enjoyed the company of them both. Picking his hat from his belt, he handed it up to Ruto, who put it on the top of her head and gave off a slight giggle, making the boy smile somehow in the dungeon of doom.

He hoped another light would transport them out of here, the other way out he didn't want to think about. Shivering mentally, he turned towards the east and left the creatures behind, whatever they were, walking to the door to the east and stepping inside. On the way to the doorway a tooth was directed infront of him, when stepping on it with both of their weight it didn't even budge, yet with the strength of two people the smash swabbed open and mucus vines disappeared, letting the vines cling freely. Brushing the contents of the remains aside, he stepped inside the fleshy exterior, sword readying.

As soon as they were inside the room, the door shut and another impenetrable mucus web surrounded their only exit out of this room. Sitting Ruto by the door way (telling her to remain there so he could check out the room), the duo was surprised only to find a bit of the room available, not very big in size, and consisting of only the wet surface ground. No chests, no monsters, no nothing was in here, but why was there a trap like before? Suddenly, his eyes widened and he jumped out of the way as something zipped past him, slicing his shoulder a bit. Sucking in a breath from the pain, fresh blood oozed down his tunic, not a very deep wound from the feel, but quite a little crimson tint. Catching himself in a roll, he spun around, intersecting with the Stinger that slammed into the hilt of his sword. Link's luck was in order; the monster had gotten his left hand, not his right.

"Link, are you okay!" Ruto screamed from behind, her eager whispers in the language were futile in this room, it seemed the room had to be flooded like before.

"Aye, I am alright, Ruto. Just go back and--" His eyes widened as something propelled into his stomach, sending him slamming into the sickly tissue of the Jabu. A roar of pain surrounded the room, acting almost like an earthquake, which sank Link down, but also made the rest of the Stingers come out of the room. Ten were up and at battle, reading themselves for the preparations of a meal. Slumping up, the boy looked over to his fairie, who was trying to shoot meaningless chi shots at them, the futile of it making him bite his lips in frustration. Why didn't the magic work!

"Link, they have some sort of barrier upon them, damn! My manna isn't affecting them in the least." Slinking down against him, her ears perked up. "How about the fire, Din's."

"But, the surface is cold."

"It's better than being shredded to pieces, isn't it?" Yes, that was true. Whatever these Stringers had upon them was obviously bladed sharp, and would mince him up in a matter of seconds. Fortunately for them, the butt to the wall had been used with the Stringer's head, only causing a small bruise to later appear upon Link's tender chest. Skidding down in the wet water, moving towards the end of the room, so the marks wouldn't affect Ruto, the boy waited until they closed in for the kill, before initiating it. Whatever happened would happen, he had come to accept that fact from now on, he might die in this journey, but he would give it his all, that was what he was: a hero.

_--------------------_

"Link!" Screeching out, her eyes almost bulged out of their sockets. What was that idiot thinking! He was just luring them in, with a smirk upon his face, but she wouldn't let that happen, for in the next few seconds she began to glide upon the wet surface (using her flippers) to reach him. Only a few seconds it would take, but as soon as she landed next to Link, he threw her back across the landscape, so she sunk inside of the wall near the entrance. Fighting with all her strength, she just couldn't seem to get out of the accursed entombment of skin. No, it wasn't going to eat her or anything, but allowed her not to help her friend. Does he need help; he had a smirk on his face and was preparing for some sort of an attack? No, that was silly, he had no such powers, he couldn't attack.

Angst threw out of her heart when the ten Stingers surrounded to boy in a miniature circle so all she could get from the view were his legs sticking out. Biting her lip in frustration, she cried out his name as loud as possible, the grip upon her seeming to intensify so to shut her up. Quieting down, her form remaining sunk inside of the flesh, she began to whisper upon the prayer, again nothing happened with her. Damn them, damn them, how was she supposed to watch her new friend die? Well, peasant, not friend-- no, not really. A yell of some sort ignited through the air, Link's voice, but not a yell a pain, something in another language. In another instant the entire Stinger collapsed to the ground.

The silken hero was in the air as the Stingers fell some all at once and many of the others on the other spin. Submerged in the air, the blade of his sword was turning a bright crimson, while the base lit off a deep blue. Covering her eyes from the bright appearances, yes they reached over here, her eyes remained shut until the tenth scream ringed out through her Hylian ears. Hands clamped over her face, she peeked through them shyly to see that the boy's sword had obviously calmed down, but his hair was sticking up, swirling with the electricity of it all. Some had managed to sting them, that was apparent in him, yet no pain was reflected upon his face, only the static energy in his hair.

Brushing back his hair with the dull end of his sword, the colours of the blade swirled down to the iron steel, as he laid it upon his side and stared back at her, but before heading back, something began to appear around them. Looking down with eyes wide, she saw that a yellow light came out of the flesh, not burning it, but hiding the flesh under it. Concealing from the light was a huge brown box that Link seemed oh-so-eager to look at. It didn't really impress her, but maybe he thought it was some sort of reward. Anyway, the light went away as he yanked open the box and took out some weird tool.

_--------------------_

"Din's Fire won't work, Navi! I am gonna try the Rhiu-Kiyto, it doesn't drain as much, and will be more effective." Link was staring dead at the enemies, them just a few feet above the air, and descending upon them. He still thought that the fire technique would not work for them, but would only dissipate in the water surface, no matter how small it was. The appearance of Ruto had actually shocked him, almost glad the dreaded Jabu had imprisoned her inside the cage of flesh, the farther she was away from here, the better. Yes, he accompanied that stings would come before the blade would spin around, he did have to go 360 degrees before the blade actually shot out the manna in a circle, but then the technique went into a full rage of fury.

"But Link, they have to surround you, it's dangerous! You know I don't have any special type of barriers for you." The barrier she could extend upon him, but it was only a mass of veil, not a barrier, and wouldn't stop the shocks of their tails as they shot through their skin. Seeing the determination sketched across his face made her give a quick nod, wanting to get it over as fast as they could. The mad fish were descending upon him and fast, there was no telling how fast they would counter in and strike both of them down; their only chance was the Rhiu-Kiyto. The last time she had seen Link practice it, he was pretty good, she so hoped he had been practicing a technique of the style that took out ten enemies in a row, there was no way they were going to get all ten, maybe five at the most.

As if reading her mind, he gave a slight smirk. "I've added a slight reproach to my Kiyto technique, I call this one the Rhiu-Buijitsu!" Now the enemies had collapse in, only a mere five feet away from them with the tails just a brutalizing with electricity. Gripping around him, she didn't hide, no she wasn't going to do that, but merely stood right beside him, landing upon his shoulder so if he got shocked so would she. Link grabbed the blade of the sword and instead of holding it to the left, he placed it right infront of him, an aura of blue surrounding his body. A clear blue aura of innocence kept around him, circling her too, while the tails slashed in for battle.

One by one they went in, each one connected with her and him, making her scream in pain, the boy not letting out so much as a peep, for that would break his concentration. Tears were moistened in his eyes when the second round of strings arose, his hair rising up all the way (since his hat was gone) the static waves showing their existence in high colours. As much as she wanted to get up and rub his cheeks, smooth his brow, or to speak to him, she knew she just couldn't. The shocks had actually pinned her up to his clothes, reassuring that she would not escape this espionage alive. After the third (and final) wave of stings hit both of them, she crying out again in pain, the boys opened his eyes, the aura spreading about them and surrounding each of the Stingers in it.

"Now they die. Rhiu-Buijitsu, I call upon Naryu for the winds of the Goddess!" Screeching upon the last speech, he actually lifted in the air, his body becoming one with the air, leaving that old rule of gravity right behind with all the other physics laws. Spreading his sword out to the left, he didn't even have to charge the Rhiu-Kiyto. It automatically turned crimson; the edge of the blade, while the dull end blew out a mystical blew sound. Crying out in fury, the hero's sword spun around in a three hundred and sixty-degree circle, slashing half of the Stingers. Some of them tried to escape their destiny, but he just pointed at the sword, and shot out a quick energy ring from the side of the blade, by slashing their way.

Turning around, the boy crossed his arms and gave out a triumphant laugh, a laugh that would make him suffer, for as soon as his back was turned something leapt upon it and drove the tail deep inside of the wound from before. Crying in pain, electrical shocks guttered through his body, the sword slinging to the side of the ground, moving out of his range of reach. Not that it would matter anyway, he was back on his knees with his sense becoming weakened, his own little mind thrashing for hope to calm himself down. No, I won't die! Ears didn't hear anything, the cry of Navi, the cry of anyone, all he heard was himself praying for his own health, and that death wouldn't succumb over his body.

Only one of the Stingers remained, wanting to avenge its siblings for their destruction, this one quite damaged from the attack, but one of the smartest to duck of the aftershock that door out the most. Only half of its body was remained, some of it slicing down with the stinger strung across an open wound that had remained from the previous tortures. Crying out in fury and pain, it would avenge its siblings, it would make this little bastard pay for its crimes, and sending it deeper into the wound, the elf-child's cries were echoed through the valley, a barrier of electricity surrounding the two.

Navi had to come noticed, for Link peered at her beating upon the glass, tears streaming down her eyes in pain. Wha?…why is she crying, Navi, it's alright…Then the second shot hit him, but gripping the side of flesh, it took it with full force, looking up to see a decimated little thing with its invisible eyes sensing him. Only one chance, this will hurt, but I have no choice, thinking the last thought, he leapt upon the creature stabbing his fingers inside of the creatures face. Ripping out the guts of the creature furiously, the shocking making him whimper softer than ever, the incredible pain was so unbearable, but he let it go. Dropping all the pain, the lad found the part of the jellyfish that contained the brain, smashing it within his fingers.

A crackle of electricity bared out, spreading in an invisible manner before disappearing entirely. Without the source in place, the main power would die, so he was free. Stupid creatures…I hate them. Resting a hand forward, he groped for his Fairie, the skin upon him was still the same colour, parts of his body ached all over with reflecting. Gripping her, the boy saw her lips moving, but never caught the words that came out of them. Nodding his head incoherently, the drone looked up at her lips, trying to read them, but utterly failing in the attempt. Finally, the ignoramus ended up laying his head upon the wet surface, closing those eyes and passing out from unconsciousness, letting his dreams let through.

_--------------------_

"Where are we?" It looked familiar, like a place he had already visited before in another life…or another dream. Painted garden walls were all around, the roses blooming out from the fresh spring, the area he was, but next to him was a separate layer of molten lava, no barrier between the two. Yet the smoke didn't touch the beautifully grassed lands, and next to the lava laid an ocean of organic colours, pouring out as far as the eye can see. Finally, he saw he wasn't in the forest at all, but on top of a small platform that reached up to the sky.

Staring down at the three platforms, the images of three being appeared, them speaking in a tongue he couldn't recognize. Nearly falling off the platform, he stumbled over a little when a larger structure landed over him, a hundred feet taller, a castle matching that of Hyrule.

Except there was no royal beauty with this piece of architecture, there was only energy of pure evil. The castle from second glance grew much taller than the Hylian castle, additional towers moving over and crisps-crossing in directions that seemed endless, the place pained (or stained) an ashen black. At the top of entrance stood a being with a flowing cape, arms crossed over his chest and smirking deeply with all concern, a deep chuckle left his throat and the scream is what awoken him.

Link had been muddled together after the initial attack, Navi not being able to free the reluctant Ruto, went on the search for some sort of healing items. There were none, so she relied upon the 1st Aid Kit that Saria had posted for them when they were on the earlier quests. Thrashing through the aid kit like a wild man, she found some part of a potion, not that it would kill the pain forever, but for the time being, so she applied the part all over his skin and tarred tunic. Waterproof is may have been, but not thunder-proof at all. Applying some of the ointments to the boy, she let him rest for the following hours, until he finally awoken from the deep turmoil of sleep.

_--------------------_

I ache all over, why? Stretching his arms out, the boy gave a small sigh, being bombarded a few seconds later with kisses of a reluctant fairie. Smiling, the boy bundled her up in his arms, awakening only to find himself surrounded in some bandages around the prick holes that the Stingers had damaged. Whatever was in this room, he thought he had earned it to say the latest. Sitting Navi on his shoulder, he slunk up his form silently and stared around to room, so find that a few of the Stingers were about, the ones without stingers, obviously, so they were harmless, yet he didn't feel that way.

The turmoil he felt was to punish these creatures, make them pay for their crimes, assign himself as the reaper. Grinning softly, he scrounged around for his sword, raising it up and prepared himself.

Wherever he learned these, was beyond her control. The power, the fury, the being was all inspired within that little heard. With one last slash to the left, he went around dissecting and finishing off all what was left of those dreaded stringers. The blade fell from his hands, as he collapsed in the cool water, grasping it before it hit the water (with just a little bit of shock than needed.) Maybe it was because the chi waves would have spread out and hit Ruto? That could be a possibility and a good one while he was at it. Feeling it was metaphorically was too heated to be put away, the boy stuck the blade under his arm, staring to walk back towards the princess he was guarding, when something began to appear before him. Grabbing the sword, he readied himself, while she began to form a line of manna.

The "enemy" was actually one of those appearing chests, as in the previous dungeons. Quickly dispersing her hidden manna, she stared over at the boy, seeing the fatigue and worry in her face. Must have used most of his manna on that attack, I guess his first technique was weak, but borrowing the powers of the Goddess' probably took more than three-quarters of his power done. As he opened up the chest and dug through its contents, she grabbed one of the magic slots from his satchel (the one she had drank on before) feeding it through him slightly. Slurping up it, she also grabbed out the last of the ten heart containers, feeding him six and herself four. It wasn't like they were back at full strength, but at least they could survive some more fights (as long as it wasn't another ten Stringers.)

_--------------------_

Was Lady Luck in his favor, or just some little toy was there? As he pulled out the unique tool, his face was that of curiosity, it was definitely not something he had ever lied eyes upon before. Shaped like the moon was sometimes--oh, what was it called-- a crescent? Yes, shaped like one of those, and pained upon an orange colour, the weapon was. A deep red jewel was fixed in the center of the crescent, surrounded by a line of gold. That was all for the jewelry, except the matching jewel on the back, but upon the left and right handles were two small green marks. Scoffing a little, he held up to Navi, just staring at it.

"What is this, Navi?" Looking to his left, he saw she wasn't there. H-had she been crushed! Gasping, he spun around, looking desperately for her, but finding no sign of her. Whimpering sadly, he was about to go out to the bushes to scrounge, but a voice broke his concentration.

"Urm, hello? Let me out? Link!" Flipping his head to the south region, he broke out in a grin, staring up at the pale-skinned fish encased inside of the barriers of the flesh. The flash of the smile caused the scar that would be left upon his left shoulder to ache somewhat. Shrugging his capable shoulder, as if to test it out, he threw the weapon up at Ruto or towards to skin, to loosen the skin up. To unexpected surprise, the tool not only hit the surface, causing Ruto to land upon the flat surface, but actually spun around in the shape it was, returning to his hand only raised up to catch it. Staring down at the tool, Navi had finally caught up with him, and looked down at the tool, her arms covered with supplies.

"Navi!" Grabbing her into a tight embrace, the supplies from her hands bounced upon the soft ground, preserving them from shattering. Letting out a small giggle, he cuddled her inside of his arms. "Awe, you had me so worried, Navi, I thought maybe I had cut you up, or one of the bodies had gotten you!" Nuzzling her face gently, it was Ruto who broke up the sweet reunion with a simple question of her own, and what that was pondered on both hers and Link's minds: what in Hyrule was that thing in Link's hands. If he had to guess, it was some sort of weird pix-axe, that didn't use the blade, but that was he.

"Ah, Link, I missed you too. Mm, what you are holding is called a boomerang. I haven't seen one in quite a while, but if you throw it in the right direction, then it shall return to you. Those jewels seem to help direct the focus upon the persons chi, obviously, so I am just guessing, but that means it shall always come back to you, even if you don't try to catch it." Slumping upon her shoulder, they really needed to find that room desperately, she was tired desperate for some rest, and sick of these battles. It was fine and might that these were going to be the last ones she would see for the rest of her life, those thoughts really excited her. Her life with Link, oh what would they do, how would they repor-

Focus! Focus, now, and worry about that later. Reproduction? Ha! The voice inside of her head carried on, stupidly, the fairie rolling her eyes to no one in particular. Ruto, however, was talking about something and caught the roll in the general direction. Gasping, she looked away with a bit of her hurt in her eyes, speaking out in a calm and malicious tone. Not really an evil tone, but one that had been seriously hurt. True she didn't like Navi more than Link, but really, she could have at least been respected in some general direction.

"If you don't want to hear, just say so."

"Huh? Princess, what do you mean?"

"You rolled your eyes at me!"

"I-I did? Oh, I-I'm sorry, Princess, I didn't even notice." Giving a snort, Ruto turned towards Link to comment, but all what was there was a distant shadow of the past. Peeking around, she ran towards the door when she saw him hacking away at the mucus that had somehow concealed them before. Now that the monsters were dead, nothing was keeping the snot hard, so it was quite easy to slice through it within a few minutes. As Ruto (trailed by Navi) arrived at the scene, Link had gotten the last good gunk off, pealing it off with the back of his sword (that was also smeared with guts, and blood.) He couldn't help himself, as he slunk to his knees and wiped it clean from the past battles inside of this hellhole, no he was strong, so he wouldn't break. The only person he could do that infront of was Ruto, but as he descended for her to climb upon his shoulders, she barely heard him.

It was only halfway past the area, heading in the western direction this time, for tentacles like the other room blocked the others that he ran into some previous trouble. Out of the blue popped another one of those ugly creatures, his sword sheathed for now, the boomerang held at his side (something telling him it would aid better in this battlement.) Flipping backwards, he readied the rang as Navi shot out the name of his attacker.

"A Tailpasaran, the centipede type, nothing unusual about it--wait. It said that electrical type so now sword types, use your new weapon Link!"

"Mmhm, way ahead of you." As soon as it lunged at him, the hideous red furry body with insect-legs teetering in the air, he let loose the boomerang of jewels. As soon as the boomerang clashed against the end of the Tailpasaran's neck, it locked it up against the side of the wall, instead of returning back to its master. Link stared at it curiously as it ferociously tried to battle away at it, desperately trying to keep alive, yet squeeze through the hole at the same time. The blade held up, he couldn't see anymore-electrical spots upon the centipede, so he curiously watched her scan the enemy once more.

"Confirmed, the boomerang knocked the electricity away. You can go in for the kill now, Link." And indeed he did that, without hesitation, he slammed the tip of the blade down the skull of the Tailpasaran, tearing its exoskeleton into shreds of remains. Not even a screech was rewarded with any final last words, only the thump of the corpse as it slid up off the boomerang and down on the swirling ground. Suddenly a small hole appeared and disposed of the body, maybe used for food. His emotions stayed roughly hatred, watching the wretched thing drift away, with a drift of good riddance. Staring up at Ruto, he saw her expression was soft and pitied, pouting of the young creature, then to Navi who nodded with her arms crossed around her chest.

Yes, nothing could have stopped it; it was just a stupid creature anyway. Reaching up, he fiddled with Ruto a little, grabbing his hat and readjusting it upon his head. Grabbing her, he put her so her legs were around his neck and she rested right before his head, instead of on it.

"You alright like that? You are kinda heavy on my head, don't want to pass out or anything." Chuckling, he patted her thigh tenderly.

"Mmhm, I am fine. I-I'm sorry." Eyes moistened a bit, Ruto said.

"About what, Ruto?"

"About that thing, how I couldn't save you. I-I promise I'll do better next time-- I swear!" Giving a quick nod to the girl, he shushed her softly, telling her tenderly that it was all right. Matter of a fact, it was alright, sure he could have almost been killed, but the fact was that he hadn't been despised from this world, he was with his guardian and the princess whom he was guarding. Listening to the silence of the conversation, he figured it over, heading over towards the doors where the western edge was. Stepping upon the switch with both of them, it slid down and the magic-based mucus gave away, yet when he jumped off it was sliding back together. Frowning, he stepped upon it with both of them again, and the same thing happened again! Stomping his left foot on the switch, it popped down with only the slightest bit of weight upon it.

"It's not weight, Link, it's mass. One of us has to stay back here and stay on the switch so it doesn't go down. Ruto, would you mind staying while me and Link check it out?" At first Navi thought she was going to go on a rampage of how she was princess and she deserved just as much right out with the rest of them, than anyone else, but she didn't. Barely even acknowledging them, she sat upon the tooth as he sat her down, the door staying open when they backed towards it slowly, Link's eyes resting upon Ruto with concern.

"Are you going to be okay, Ruto-sama? If you are upset over the bloodshed, I am sorry for it, but it's necessary. Besides, these creatures aren't real; they are the reincarnations of evil into the goodness of beings. The spirits are long dead, so there is no way to save them, I know it hurts to see death, but I do not kill people, for that I have sworn my life by. It's all right to be sad, Ruto, really it is. Just don't let it get you down too much, 'kay?" Smiling, he turned around and ran for the door, popping on reach, and ran through the door that closed when they were inside.

_--------------------_

"Is she going to be okay, Navi?" Link whispered as they walked into the new room, similar to the Stinger's room, yet no water was there for them to hide. This room was completely empty, not a soul in sight, and since it was so small, and he could make an accurate guess it was all right for the time being. Moving over towards the center, the boy looked to his fairie, with compassion glancing through those brushed features.

"She's tough, I think she'll be all right. Well, why all of a sudden worried about others? You have a crush upon her, or something?"

"Not really, I am just worried about her, that's all." The trick had been a test to see what would happen, and since he didn't flush and look away stupidly like he did with Saria, it was really love. Ruto didn't seem to show that for the boy, either, so it seemed that this particular meeting was in her own favor. It was probably the species that didn't attract them together, at least for Ruto, she knew she couldn't fall in love with a Kokiiri, for one day she would grow wise beyond his senior, dominating over him, in the weirdest fashion."

"Is she not pretty?" She whispered softly.

"Oh, no, she is pretty, one of the prettiest Zoras, I just don't feel that sort of love for her. I love her, of course, as a friend, but I also love Zelda and Malon as a friend, also."

"Well, what about Saria and I?" The question rose upon her lips, what did he really feel for her.

"Saria? I love her more than anything, she was my mother, my protector, and my friend, I love her more than anyone I have ever met in my life, you equally." Breaking out in a small grin, he felt the pressure that she pressed upon him, but didn't give into it, he just shrugged a shoulder at the second part of the question.

"Oh really?" Navi smiled at the thought, being equal with Saria was something she had hoped to achieve.

"Maybe I'll tell you anoth--" Suddenly he was cut off as something slammed him across the ground, unlike anything that was like the impact of the Stringers. Whatever did it couldn't reach him from that far away, so the boy tucked softly to the ground, crying out in pain. The moistened land fells upon his wounds, making the ones from before even intensify from before. Staring up at the ground, he saw what was a fifty feet tentacle staring at him with a face-less body, it was brown and slimy, from the feel of it all over his body. Wincing, he raised himself up weakly, backing against the wall to secure himself from further damage.

"Link! Oh, Goddess, Link" Flying to his side, the fairie stared up at the tentacle with her eyes widening. She had thought the tentacle not a threat, but now they were dealing with it. Or a cousin of one, for this one was a mahogany colour, while the other one was a dark green. Detecting no marks upon it, seeing as it went up towards twenty-five feet up, so a projectile weapon was out of the question. "Link, I don't see a weakness upon this Parasitic Tentacle. I don't think there is a way, except magic." Her eyes sort of curiously warned him when she shook his head, reaching for the boomerang with a grin.

"I saw a weak spot, right when it smacked me."

"Projectiles won't work, Link, it'll slap it away."

"Nuh-uh, it's got a tender spot about thirty feet up the road, that's why he is holding it in, so I can't access to it."

"How do you plan on getting it?" There was nearly no way to reach it, surely he wasn't insane enough too-- he questions were answered when he grinned a huge smirk and shrugged a shoulder as If to say it was nothing. Nothing was certainly was an understatement for this; it was suicide, basic suicide. She shook her head, blocking his path, only to be pushed out of the way softly. No, no, no! She wasn't going to let himself get killed to get to a stupid part down there, it just wasn't worth it, and there was no way she'd risk it.

"You won't make it in time."

"I will, I'll dodge it after I throw the rang, besides, I need you now." I've always needed you, nothing can stop me now, I feel the fear of this place, but with you at my side, I can do this.

"Need me, but how?"

"I need you to go to the spot and light up with its aligned with my boomerang, then I'll throw it and duck, as you said the boomerang will come back to my chi level, so we have nothing to worry about, and I need your own soul with mine." Interjection of the souls may have increased the power of the throw, the momentum of the holding, and the breaking of however this creature would die.

"But, Link!"

"No, buts. I don't plan on dying, Navi; I plan on surviving this. As my correct guess there are two or more of these creepy crawlers about, we are gonna need to knew how to mess with them. I am almost out of magic, even though you filled me up, and my fire won't work on them, they are too oily. If this doesn't work you can kill me yourself, okay?" At least I hope so. Sealing the deal off with a sweet smile, the girl gritted her teeth, trying to steady herself for the answer, but it was no use. She had swept him off his feet and now they were going to head out for that simple place and die an untimely death, all on the account of her weakness and his adventure sense was more developed. She had noticed his he changed so much, it was quite ironic, but in the distant past he would have never attempted something so stupid or foolish. Not that he was getting dumber; his courage was rising, though.

"A-alright. But, you'd better not get hurt!" With a quick nod, the boy let her levitate up right above him, but thirty feet in the air. The accurate guess on where the weak spot was, Link knew what it was, because the colours were a lighter mahogany, that implicated a weakness, or a colour where it slept. If his guess was wrong, then he was dead anyway, it was better than sitting here and waiting to become foot, Eh? Running up toward the center of the room, staring up at the slithering hole, he watched eagerly as it slid down the fifty feet and closed in the distance between them with only a pushpin of a difference in location. Even as he stared it up in the eyes, boomerang positioned in his left hand, the pain in his right and bruises on his chest crying out, he couldn't help, but laugh.

The laugh was like the pistol-shot at a horse race; it was the time to move on with the prize in his mind. Quickly dodging to the left, he waited for his signal, the yellow light, that the signal had been found, it was weak indeed, and when to throw. For now, however, he had an angry tentacle that was even more pissed overtime he dodged six foot thick matching appendage. Throwing him to the right, the arm slammed down into the ground, causing Jabu to scream; yet it didn't seem to affect either of them in the least. Keeping his eyes on the beginning of the tail, noticing when it moved he, he reacted, and when searching for Navi to light up in the dark, so it was easy to dodge.

Within the fourth dodge, the light lit up for him to throw him boomerang, so reaching forward he threw it around in the crescent shot, maneuvering under the tentacle, watching for the moment of truth.

_--------------------_

Sniffling silently, the child had watched him enter the door, watching as the flap of tissue ceased back into a door, only seconds later. Sure, she was depressed, but what was she saddened by? From everything, to put it bluntly. The cowardice she felt when faced up with a tiny centipede, the courage the boy showed, the insides of her fellow fish God, and even this environment itself. No, this was not the Jabu that she loved, not the fish she spent many times wandering in alone, this was some defect, some sort of monster. How could this be the same creature that used to let her wander his endowments with no fear of being attacked? The simple answer was that this wasn't it, or if it were, then it would soon be destroyed and/or cured.

Flaps of Jabu's "doors" may have been thin on the first glance, but Ruto couldn't even seem to hear through the walls. Jumping off of the switch, she made her way over towards the wall and pressed her ear up against it firmly. Even with the incredible Hylian breech of her ears, the sounds through the thin wall weren't bouncing in her direction. Taking a braver approach, her ear pressed up against the wall, where in turn was greeted with the duplicate effect. Throwing her hands back in frustration, she sat back upon the tooth, the one that didn't even open, even when she was on it. Folding her hands about her chest, her mind began to melt down to some minor thoughts.

What was going to happen when the two got out of here? Obviously, the boy was some sort of hero, she hadn't gotten around to asking him any personal questions, they hadn't known each other that long, why be nosy? No, she was nosy at this point, she wanted to know everything about him, what the Kokiiri tribe did, had they ever interacted with each other, that sort of stuff. She had never heard of the Kokiiri except through some history lessons with her professors, and even then the teachers were quite skeptics, saying no one could have eternal youth just because some "magical" tree kept them up and about. These were the same mentors that taught her how to summon her spells, really, how can one not believe in a mystic tree, yet teach the ancient art of magic? The situations made no sense to her.

Was he going to leave after they got out of here? Well, sure he was, he was an adventurer at sorts, or that's what she recommended, how could he not be with that deviance smile, those moves from fighting, and that power! That mystical attack from which was from the Goddess that they worshipped, how could he learn such a technique. Having heard the name of the technique was different, it was some other language she couldn't understand, but had Zorian words in it. So confusing, so little time to compensate for it. Maybe a guard, or his father had taught him the technique, it seemed to be a real drain on his manna, hence the reason for his skin becoming light. His manna wouldn't last much longer, unless he had himself a green potion, but she hadn't seen those in forever.

"Oh, Naryu, help me. Give me strength to fight enemies when we come in close contact again. But, why do I want to do this, I had never ever wanted to do anything this weird before, especially with a peasant. Why am I treating a peasant with such expertise, he may deserve it, but he isn't of our royal blood--nor out species, for that matter. Ohh, tell me why, great Goddess of wind and water, the procreator of physics." Nothing answered her sweet prayers, only the incubated breathing of the outer world. If Ruto had one thing on her mind when that scream came out, it was that she would never lay a foot back here again-- a scream? Yes, a scream so loud broke the sound barrier of the once proofed room, but it wasn't the scream of the boy she knew, it was the scream of something else, something in terrible pain.

Maybe the monster that he is fighting. Oh, yes, there was such a monster behind the door, maybe it was its scent he caught, or maybe she could decipher aura, the latter seeming more ridiculous than its predecessor could. Laying eyes on the door, a great sigh of relief died through the winds of the great fish, as if a gargantuan burden had been lifted from its shoulders. Something happened then, something that she couldn't explain; some of the skin upon Jabu began to change. When she had been first sucked in, it was the most abnormal shade of pink that the skin had ever been, the roof a violent violet. Now, however, the skin upon the roof was a paler pink, while the matching skin had moved up a shade of two. _Must mean he's healing, yes that was it, nothing else could explain it?_ Suckling of the walls also stopped, some of the creatures may have died, she really didn't know.

Suddenly she knew in her mind that they were going to get out. From the beginning she had been skeptic, always thinking that this idiot would turn upon her, turn tail and run, or simply put her out of her misery, however now she held a certain trust towards him. Who cared if he was a peasant, a Kokiiri, or a boy, not she, she didn't give a damn in the least. All that mattered was that he was risking his life for her, and the best she could do was ride on his head. No more, no more at all, for when he got out of there she was going to hold his hand and walk by his side the rest of the way. Yes, yes, she was going too--ohh, a slight yawn entered her train of thought, circling her thoughts in a swirl of emotions. Just a bit of rest, yes, just a little bit, then I'll be good as knew. Curling up in a ball on the flat tooth, she tenderly rubbed her sides and gazed herself into unconsciousness.

_--------------------_

"A perfect hit, Link!" Navi cheered on as the boomerang swung upside to the monster, slashing right across the more tender area, swerving around and re-landing in his hands. Grinning over to Navi, he gave a light shrug and stared up at the monster, the blow hadn't killed it, that for sure, but now it was seriously pissed, the tail began to swerve back and forth in hectic motions. Dodging each one with the right amount of accuracy, he later would grant himself the beauty in his evasion, for the thing was swinging so hard, it might have taken his head off in one clean snap. Shuddering down the sickening feeling, the boy back-flipped away from the tail's point of attack, watching it rise the extra thirty feet once again, holding itself at bay.

Slightly chuckling, he leaned against the side of the walls, noticing a slight colour change, but nothing so immediate. Pulling out the boomerang, he noticed the guts upon the jewel, where it hit to the side, but a direct hit hadn't happened. From his guess, if a direct hit would happen, the might beast would succumb with a loud scream, either snapping off or dying, or shriveling up into an old weed. Pushing back his hat, the boy looked over to his fairie, trying to hold back the laughs. "Told you."

"Mm, yes, you did. He is a bit slow compared to you, isn't he? But be warned, one hit with that may kill you."

"Yea, I guessed that much. Round two coming up!" The second time around was much quicker, much more intense than the time before. Time seemed to slow down as each little throw it threw was dodged with perfect accession, sometimes slipping down, rolling to the side in the next moment, but hey, nobody's perfect. Rolling upon his back, the boy dodged backward, throwing the boomerang straight at the sparkled area where his fairie had returned, a scream of impact illuminating both of them in pain.

Covering his ears caused the boomerang to stay up there, the jewel upon the rang was reacting seriously, responding to the contact of flesh it came out to touch. As it seemed, the weapon of its choices could hurt this little monster, maybe the reason it was so well guarded. Finally the scream faded off, Link reaching a hand out and the boomerang returned to its master, but by that time the monster was already dead. As soon as the boomerang let out of its skin, the tail slumped to the ground, turning a disfigured brown colour, then disappearing inside a swirl hole that appeared out of nowhere. Clean-up duty seemed to be on their side for a change, yet a strange feeling in the back of his mind told him it would clean up his body just as fast, if he had been the one punishable.

As soon as the tail disappeared, a louder scream echoed through the walls, this one loud, but not so hearing-impaired. Link's guess was that they destroyed the center of the larger tails that were covering some of the entrances to the nearby doors. That might mean if they headed to those doors after disposing of them, then it was a good chance they would find an empty path to the room. Tucking the boomerang in his belt, instead the empty space in his side pack, the boy looked over to Navi with his eyes falling upon her with compassion, she had soon come down while he watched the incarnate of this creatures cruel fate.

"Sad, isn't it?" Her words echoed like distant shadows.

"Mmhm, it is sad. Shall we go, I have a hunch there are more of these, besides the green one, and we should clear them out as soon as possible." When he turned to leave, his eyes brightened up--no, the room brightened up. The entire room began to shrivel and form a new colour, a lighter shade of inner muscle surrounding the contents they were concealed inside. "Think that means he is healed somewhat?" Receive a small reply of approval, the boy walked over the nasty tail, stomping the small squiggling edge into the ground, before stepping before the layer of flesh, that led back to the old room.

"Awe, she's asleep…" Navi floated across her face, watching the little Zora slumber upon her guarding point, so defenseless it was cute. Picking her up with the power that Navi possessed, she put the girl up on Link's shoulder, which he took as if some sort of relief. Thanking his partner with a nod, he continued down the path, staring down at the tree exits. Whichever way they would go out to be quick and easy, but the hard part was to decide which way to go. Those paths were so slippery it was harder to get upon, plus sometimes a deadly electrocuting tentacle was awaiting them. Well, he guessed that they were lightning-based.

"So, which direction?"

"Northwest, it had the brownish tail."

"You sure, Navi?"

"Positive, Link, now let's go." Smiling brightly at him, the boy couldn't help, but shrug a delirious hand and give into her pleasures. Yes, sometimes she had the upper hand in his battles, sometimes she usually one, but there was the occasional night when he would win, the arguments usually tedious and childish (but wasn't that what they were?) leading to nothing real interesting. Maybe it was interesting, but served no purpose to the point in their adventures, usually a debate on the future, what happens next, talking to each other, and describing each other to one another in their own words.

_--------------------_

A boring room waited them in the direction they headed. Though the northwest wasn't blocked from dangers, inside they found a chest with a compass awaiting them, but there was a sidetrack Shaboms were the sidetrack, for they had to defeat all twenty of them within a ticking distance, or the stupid chest would disappear. It appeared that after several times, the seconds were in the forties, that didn't give them much time for the exploding monsters, especially with bullets, but Link had himself a good idea. Sitting his passenger on the ground, away from the Shaboms, the boy flexed his muscles and prepared for the primitive attack. Not bothering to waste anymore magic, or a good percentage, on the Goddess attack, he would propel himself off the wall and help out.

Running towards the wall, the lad leapt upon it, the rubbery substance using as a polar cap and retracting him away from his initial position. Flying in the center of the room (and the Shaboms), the boy threw his hands in the position of Din's fire, letting loose a volcanic blast of flavor that would stain all the bubbles with the crimson for the time being. With heat applied to their simple bodies, the stupid creatures easily gave into popping at the intense heat, each one popping before ten seconds were over. With the chest now free, the boy jumped at the chance to gather what would be next, pushing his left with the only element of the dungeon he didn't have: a compass. Gathering up Ruto, he gave the room one last glance, before walking out of it in a little unfit manner.

Leaving the room with a tiny bit of disgust, he headed for the room to the northeast. In the distance, the boy and his companion saw a larger red tentacle blocked the path, so they headed up to the west, where the path was as clear as day. No holes to indicate that something were even here. Maybe he should have come here before the room with the boomerang? Yet as he came into the room, and saw the consequences, the boy was contented he had decided to leave himself outside without so much as the live-saver he had stuck inside of his belt.

Un-tucking his lucky crescent, the boy entered the room where a larger tail stood upright out of the ground, guarding nothing in particular. Automatically he knew that was the tentacle, so he went in for the high-pitched kill, which was to his shock, not that much of a deal. The earlier version of the tails had been smaller, more agile, capable of better blows, but this one had to make the boy chuckle out in happiness, it was just too fat to be of any threat. It was true if that one knocked him once he'd be crushed, but that was problem, the thing just couldn't seem to hit its mark. Each time it came even close to preventing damage, the boy leapt to another direction to avoid the close combat quarts.

Another one of its disadvantages was that the spot was even larger than ever, the boy trying the same trick of not holding his hand out to try and get an instant kill, that was where the downside laid in. A large figure also meant a huge neck, which led Link to be able working upon his body for fifteen minutes, usually with maddening swings, and drilling holes within the neck. Finally, the thing collapsed ion the ground as his fifteen turned into twenty-five. Staring around, nothing appeared, so he quickly took up his Zora with him, slipping out of the room before something else could be in its place for trouble. Another scream echoed through the halls, the boy covering Ruto's ears so she wouldn't awaken, and with that problem solved, he made his way out to the last entrance, the north.

A hypothesis was that the green one would be there, which he diverse with the fairie on their way over there. When finally reaching the area where the red tail had been, he saw a huge imprint hole there. Staring down in the hole, all that was there was darkness, but he knew damned well that the thing had twisted and turned through the nerves to reach the room directly across from it.

_--------------------_

"Navi, t-there are…"

"I see them, take them out first, before you deal with the tail, just stay to the sides and you can avoid it." As he kept his distance to the sides, she stared up at the last one of the bunch: the dreaded green tail. It was quite the leader of the pack, for a group of twenty Biris surrounded them, not the big ones, but the more annoying small ones. Going with them with bombs was simply out of the questions, because seeing the green tentacle actions worried her even more, the thing was huge and agile. They found that out entering the room, the tail nearly slamming the door shut, if they hadn't been blocked, it would have been them getting the slam. Now in a direct corner, he targeted his boomerang at the first Biris and fired, if this didn't work, he'd try to escape for a new plan.

The Goddesses loved Link! As soon as they came in contact with the boomerang, the jewel responded and shot out some light at the Biris, burning it into a mass of bubbles. This one happened to swerve around five of them, crushing them into nothing within a matter of seconds. Leaping up and catching the boomerang, he squealed with a bit of joy, launching it out again at the enemies. Only getting them in-groups of two, he managed to eliminate all the Biris in eight turns (the last Biris left was all alone and making a crying sound), but he showed no mercy to them, taking it out in just a few seconds. All the bubbles weren't like the Shaboms, they actually turned into purple bubbles, which popped on their own and disappeared in the oxygen, what happened to their bodies was beyond his knowledge.

"Navi, it's working, it's working!" His cheers exploded as soon as they were all gone, running up towards the enemy with full force. This one had extended out the same fifty feet as the others, its thick hide protecting it in all places, yet the agility of it would benefit it in for a quick kill. Link liked the sound of it, the odds weren't in his favor, but were they usually? Throwing the area at the tender spot, the thing screamed out in pain, but sent a its tail right at him anyway. Hitting the ground, it scraped across his back, making him bite his lip to endure the pain of the slimy scales against it. No blood was drawn, but a huge scratch in his tunic appeared, some marks upon his back. Flipping back to the safe regions, he looked to Navi.

"Now what, he doesn't stop with the pain."

"I…well, we should, let's see." Sitting upon his shoulder, she gave out a loose shrug, before her mind widened up mentally. That was it, reaching behind his belt, she produced a bag and headed towards her enemy. Patting his shoulder, she floated up to the little thing, huge mark that was unexposed, closing the distance between it, which wasn't all that much to begin with. From past experiences, the monsters either didn't acknowledge Navi, or simply ignored her; the same was with this one. When Link came out and started to dodge the swift attacks of the monster, its most tender spot were left out for the girls' liking. Pulling out the bag she had drawn, she yanked out something big and black, pushing a button on it. The fuse of the bomb gave into the pressure; the pressure causing a chain reaction inside of the monster that mutilated it to pieces.

Flowing shrapnel was repelled, by his shield that contained the two behind it, yet more and more guts began to splatter off in all directions, soaking the shield in a green mass of blood, possibly not the guts had stained it, they had leaked out at first. As the bomb blew up, Link saw the bag being thrown to him, caught it and got the shield ready, Ruto already under it, and later Navi zipped in. Pressed against the wall, it concealed the three from any kind of guts that would have given through, but also no scream was given. It was their guess, but maybe the bomb destroyed it all at one time no need for any stupid scream.

Five minutes after the carnage settled down, he peeked the guard up, only to be hit with the small of the rotting dead. Wiping his shield off against the wall, he slipped it back around his face, the smell worsening. Must decompose pretty quickly, his voice told him, gathering up the Zora and continuing past the gut-drenched rivers that stretched out. They could have talked, but talk seemed so unimportant for now, the only thing that seemed to matter was living. No carcass was available for him to see; only the outpour of tissue, the skeleton (if there was one) destroyed into tiny shreds of pieces. Turning towards the door, he dodged the few droplets of the gunk that spread in big puddles. Finally moving past the pain of the room, he of course had no more rooms left, with only one more target in his grasp: to get past that barrier now, since the green tail was gone.

Slinking past the door, checking his map for the part where the green part was marked down, he nodded a quick hand at the little mark where there had been something was now empty. Quickly grabbing onto Navi, the fairie silently dragged them down through the muck-hole, into a new room that opened up to the folks. No, not a new room, it was actually the same level they had been upon before, the level he had a conversation with Ruto the second time. Not at the same place though, this time they were onto one of the highest places that couldn't be climbed up without special equipment, and what's more is a door stood their way.

"Should we wake her?"

"No, Link, but I wish we could--" Groping the map before--she had seen this place--, and yes she cheered out as Link grabbed the map studying the out figures of where they were and where the map was marked red. Of course, he shouldn't have missed it, upon a huge structure and leading forwards into a room marked with the letter "J." Running forwards, towards the door, he stopped there and turned towards the smaller corridor that led to the door, pressing his hand against the skin of the wall. The thing was transparent, as it could be seen, so he simply slipped past it with Ruto in his arms since the entrance was so small.

His eyes illuminated with brightness, the room seeming to transform from a glossy wet pile of mass, to a significantly filed room, the room mattered on with the flesh from the rest of the place. This meant it also had two large beds to sleep in, them made of the same materials the Zorians let Link use that night. All of a Link's wounds began to ache as soon as he saw the bed, laying Ruto on the blue silken covers of the right bed, limping to the left one on his side, sinking down into the covers. Sleep would have overtaken him, but it was too uncomfortable, and letting out a small groan of pain, the boy stared up at his fairie.

"It's uncomfortable in her-."

"Take off your shield, dummy…" She had already unsnapped his satchel, laying it upon some of the flesh-made cabinets that were in the room. Dodging the shield that flew overhead, followed by the sword, she came to lay upon the top pillow of the bed, looking down at him on the same pillow, Hrm, no she wasn't sleepy either. Ruto was out for the night, or so it seemed for the time being, so she might take this opportunity to get to know the child, they had talked over the two months. Talking had gone on over the last two months, but Link went to sleep so early they never got into deep conversations, but now that he was asleep it was a personal favorite time for Navi.

"So, tell me about yourself."

Giving her a double take, he blinked. "Navi, you know me."

"No, I don't, sweetheart. We talk and all, but I want to know about you--your past memories and your future. I already know your present, hee…"

"You really want to know?" Laying his head upon the pillow a little further up, they were facing each other. Her laying backwards, and him in the frontward position, the eyes never seeming to lend each others sockets to contain each other in the moment. Lifting a hand up, she patted his cheek in approval, where he saw up and heaved a deep sigh, as if he were about to release something big, something so big that she might not be ready. Had she wished she had gone back on her words, or was he happy she had finally asked the question?

"I knew you'd ask eventually, we've known each other for you to know the truth, so what do you want to know?"

"I want to know about Mido, I used to live deeper inside the forest, so I never saw anything that went on in the forest, I really want to know about your grudge about him."

Man, she really hit the nail! Seemed she didn't like to waste time and go over the most important element of the future. Shaking his head in disbelief, how was he supposed to word this, for he never had worded it to Saria, who had been there, but usually through the tears. Biting his lip for compassion, he was sitting in the bed, her held right above her face, inside his palms, where he stared down and recollected the story of how the evil Mido had extracted his revenge. The stupid little story that had haunted him since it had happened, never being locked out, but staying out in the open for any mind-readers to read. Reaching inside his satchel he grabbed the canteen full of water, chugging some down, handing it to the refusing Navi. Gulping down another swallow, he began.


	12. Chapter XI The Deku Experience

Chapter XI: The Deku Experience

Copyright: I do not own Zelda, Nintendo does. Story by Habuki productions.

"Goddess, why is she with him again!" Mido bellowed out, slamming his fist into the ground. That stupid little prick was with Saria again, no damnit, why? It didn't make no sense at all, why would she be with a pipsqueak like him when she could have a man like him, why love some under-experienced, under-aged Kokiiri. Gripping the Deku stick between his fingers, be began to draw upon the pavement that figures of them three, some stupid little triangle this was. How could she do this? How could she disappoint the leader of the Kokiiri?

Sitting upon the top of his house, he was peeking over the top when he had caught wind of the beautiful Saria and the brat (only five years old) headed towards their house. The kid was so young that no one else would take him, and he couldn't live on his own, that was for sure, but Mido thought he needed to be drowned like the dog he was. In stealthy steps, the leader trailed the two underlings for the few miles at the house, waiting until they came out, and followed them on their way past into the Lost Woods. Those woods were so confusing around this time year, especially near the spring with all those stupid scrubs coming out from their hibernation.

"Link…you coming." The goddess sang out to the younger kid.

"Yup!" Embracing the older child, a giggled escaped both of them before she lifted Link in her arms and continued through the maze, cold blood draining from Mido's face. Squeezing his hands shut, he needed some sort of plan to get back at Link for this, but what was there to do? If it was the winter he could dunk him in the snow, the fall in the leaves, the summer in the lake, but what about spring? Spring was more difficult for there were nothing around except Deku--which is it, pure genius!" his voice ringed out. Rubbing his hands about, the boy followed them until they reached the meadow, trailing a quick rock trail through the forest back to the village.

Re-arriving at the village in less time than before, his first stop was right to the Know-It-All Brothers who accepted the privilege within their own triplet voices, then he visited a few of his other friends until the ground had expended from the beginning Mido to seven strong. Lucky seven, that was the number they needed to do this need, not that the child was very big, but temper tantrums were in order. Folding infront of the group, he began to walk towards the Lost Woods trailing over his thoughts out loud to them. "How shall we do this? Anyone have any ideas?" Several of them raised their hands, but most were idiots, so he called on from the smartest of the Know-It-All Brothers, baffling the child that they couldn't speak in threes.

"I say we knock him out--first, and then do it."

"Too easy, stupid!" Hitting the child on the head, he cowered under Mido, giving out a small bow of sadness. "I want him to suffer for his deeds, I want him to suffer for taking her away from me!"

Lots of "hear, hears" rang out in the whistles, the group of boys banding together to take out their known enemy: Link. No girls were present because most of the girls still liked Link, he was such a cute little child, plus Mido doubted they could be as rough as the boys were going to be. Passing out weapons, each was armed with a Deku stick so resistance would be futile. Marching quietly through the spring sun, they searched the Lost Woods until they came upon the most ingenious spot, the hole was just right for him, the right size so he would slip in, but climbing out was impossible. The first task was to take out the little harem inside the tree, and that was when Mido went in alone with only a Deku stick at his disposable. "How brave" some of the boys cheered on, while others were trying to decide who would be the next Kokiiri leader?

Unknown to the rest of the children, Mido had possession of the legendary Kokiiri sword, something he had discovered a few months back without anyone else's knowledge. Holding only the sword inside his back, the child shivered when the small scuffling of steps was headed his way, while he fumbled around for something to fight with. A pair of orange eyes stared deep into his eyes, causing the boy to let out a silent scream, falling against the wall with disgust. As the Deku Scrub turned around to fire a bullet at it, a shaky hand shafted the blade inside of it.

Pure luck saved the boy from destruction; the snap of the sack had been done, so he had gotten a hold of the blade pretty quickly, dispatching the criminal. How ironic, he himself was a criminal invading ones homes, but sacrifices needed to be made for love. Black liquid poured down the blade, which he went throughout the room searching for more Deku scrubs (he wanted to scare him, not kill him; at least not yet.) No other scrubs were around the room, so after some quick rope-climbing Mido was back out of the room where a fresh change of clothes was made for him.

The next plan of action was following the rocks, which happened pretty quickly, not a difficult task to deflect the monster's deku nuts to the stupider-looking scrubs, the one he killed was a long-nozzle, these the short weakened kinds that ran away when hurt. Only using the sword, not to give the sword's location away, they reached the Sacred Forest Meadow within fifteen minutes, to their luck with the boy all alone, no one was on the stump, but him holding her Ocarina in her palms, cradling it as if it was a child. Pulling his Deku stick forward, he nodded for them to march on his mark. Counting down silently, he cupped his empty palm together when they ran at him.

_--------------------_

"How do you know all these details?" Navi wondered out of her mouth, looking over at him. It was nice to be here, the time passing within an hour or so, the information given by Link mystified her. How could he get this information, he wasn't there at all, he was back somewhere else, unless someone else snickered? That was highly possible, since some of the Kokiiri boys were known to be jerks. Not jerks, more like snoops, but which ones would dare tattle upon their great leader, the man that Navi had come to hate after the few confrontations with him.

"I made one to squeal, and the sword is my guess, found the corpse later on."

"W-what did they do?"

"Well, hold your horses. Saria had told me to wait there while she went to do some stuff, water the gardens in the deeper part of the meadow, so far she didn't hear my cries as they dragged me away." Clenching his fist and gritting his teeth hard, he looked down to the ground with sigh of sadness stinging his eyes. No, not a sting just tears of pain that reflected the past memories. Shaking them away, trying to forget it and grow up, he knew that Navi was waiting for the story, so he went on with his recollections of the place. Giving in every detail, so no more stops would be given for the fairie, this was his story and he intended to finish it.

_--------------------_

"Get him! Get that punk!" They yelled over, tackling the young boy to the ground. That ocarina sprung from his hands, rolling over to the side of the ground, hovering like an unprotected animal in the grasp of a snake's mouth, dripping venom of fangs ready to pounce. Little Link struggled, yes he did struggle at all cost, but that futile because Mido was sitting on his chest, the three brothers out with their arms crossed, and some of the other grunts holding down his arms and legs with both put together. Shrieking out in pain, calling out the pain and grasping for the name of his foster-mother, the child was clasped with a hand over his mouth, Mido breathing down into his face.

"Don't you dare call her!" Backslapping him across the face, he burst out in a stream of chuckles, slapping him over and over again. The sadistic touches each time making more and more tears stream from his cheeks, all the way being muzzled by another hand when he took both hands and smashed them into the tender cheeks. Blood began to stream down from his mouth, where he hit him in the jaw with some punches; his eyes already blackened from the punches of only Mido, when he nodded for the others to join in. They threw him over to the side pummeling him with kicks to the ribs, curses, and chants overbearing his cries.

Not that Link could cry anymore, his sobs were silently when they started whispering before themselves, Link being lifted up by the shaggy-haired Kokirii, throwing him over his shoulder. Either the crushed or tender ribs ached out loud a moan when he was rustled from the meadow and over outside of the maze, being gagged with a Deku nut when his screams started back up again. By the time he reached the special hole Mido had awaiting him, Link was convinced she wasn't going to turn out pretty, especially when he was thrown to the ground, only to be picked up by a vicious Mido.

"This will teach you, little bitch, not to mess with my woman."

"W-who?" He cried out in a choking gasp.

"Saria, you dumb ass, my woman! You need to be punished." Before Link could say that Saria was raising him, he was shoved down a hole that led down into the deep darkness of the night. The tunnel slid on for what seemed like hours, wet water, and something else staining his smaller tunic at the time. Finally coming to a sloshing stop in the tunnel, he fell into a goop of goo, staring around in to darkness for some source of light, and since none was found, there he started to call up for help. Laughs were his only response to the eagerness in his voice, a creaking metal moving over the last place of light, shutting him off in complete darkness.

Wrapping his arms about his neck, all the boy's thoughts focused onto the once lighted place. Nothing was here; he was going to die here alone with something he was slipping in. Jumping out of the goop, he landed upon some solid ground, feeling down with his fingers that it was a grass-patch of some sort. Link still had no idea where he was, he had never laid eyes upon a Deku Scrub before, Saria always able to dodge them or take a higher path up across the ledges when they came to the Sacred meadow.

Saria…what would she think of me now, acting a wimp! Gritting his teeth together, gnashing the marrow back and forth across himself, he cupped his hands together, to echo it, and yelled out in a fierce voice that still matched his feminine one. "Let me out! Let me out, Mido! Let me out I am telling Saria!"

Bustles of laughter exploded from their mouths, yelling down some words Link didn't think too highly of. What's worse been that somehow it was getting hot in here. Leaning up against a wall, he began to sweat profusely thought his skin. Whimpering, he curled his knees up to his chest, shivering through the tunic at the coldness, and hot weather in here, like some sort of winder and summer in here, his mind reflected. That would calmed down, but the bristle of brushes through the woods caused him to stare over at the ground and look around…no, there was no one at all, I'm just being silly. Another bristle made him squeal and leap for the tunnel dragging himself up there with his hands gasping the muddy tunnel. The brushes were getting louder and louder as it tunneled up the pathway to him. Sometimes slipping a little, he made his best way to the top, the thing gaining.

_--------------------_

"What happened next?" Ruto piped up, looking over through the covers of her bed, the eyes glazed with sleepiness.

"Huh, well, that was when Mido got what he--Ruto!" Shaking his head, he looked over to the grinning fish-girl, she jumped up from her bed and landed on Link's looking him over before slipping under the covers at where he sunk, resting his head on the pillow next to Navi and her partner. The sleepiness in her eyes faded fast, maybe she hadn't been asleep this whole time, or maybe these people were fast sleepers, all they knew is that she was the one who had interrupted the story.

"How long have you been up?"

"Since I woke up…"

Rolling his eyes a little, he tried again. "How long since I started the story." Switching the position, he pushed Navi over so she was right next to their heads, so he could face both of them. Patting the energetic Ruto upon the head, she claimed that she had been awake before they entered the door, that the muck hole ride had awoken her. Now she liked the story so far, but wanted to know what happened next, since his voice was lowering under those covers she could no longer conceal her identity. Grinning up at him, she rested her head next to his, listening as he went on-

_--------------------_

"That was good, Mido. Oh, man, that was the best!" Slapping Mido upon the back, one of the grunts watched his reaction, sometimes the boss got mad, but this time got a slap back on his back and grinned back at the grunt. Yes, this was his own idea, he'd thought it up entirely, why should anyone else take credit for his creative genius. Sitting upon the hole was a huge boulder, so he wouldn't be out for a few days. He can always live off the Deku feces; this caused the boy to crack up in a burst of giggles, echoing throughout the entire forest.

Combined the throwing of Link's voices, the cackles of the antagonist, someone or something had to have noticed the trouble going on and warned someone to help. If it had been one of girls or remaining men (hussies), they would have reported it back to the Deku Tree without any report, but then again we weren't talking about normal women, now were we? No, because Saria was the one who caught the giggles from the boys, wondering how they had gotten out to the meadow without permission and why they were laughing. Laughter was quite contagious, so when she emerged from the bushes near Link, her grin turned down into a dreadful downcast.

Rushing through the trees around the area of the forest, she opened the path where they would usually sit and practice the Ocarina, only to find her beautiful tool up against a wall, and blood sprayed across the green grass. Not just any blood, from the scent of it, it was Link's blood. Folding her tool into her pockets, she ran throughout the forest yelling out Link's name, hoping it was just a mistake, hoping that he had run into a tree and wandered home, but her hope disappearing when she was through the entire minutes later. Coming back into the forest and hearing the laughter road on and on down the road.

_Shall I check there? No, it couldn't hurt, couldn't hurt at all_. Skidding into the bushes before Mido and his gooneys, she caught the conversation about how it was so good. Puzzled, she was about to go back to her spot when her name echoed through the ears of the eleven, that child looking up, peeking around until she was sure it was coming from the underground region. A squeak in the atmosphere made her start back at Mido, who was now sitting upon a Deku dung-hole with a rock upon it, then suddenly, it appeared upon Saria. Cracking her knuckles, she leapt from the bushes and upon Mido, slamming her fist down into his face.

To say that Mido was caught off-guard was to say the least, but soon as she had the upper hand upon him, the boy had snapped his fingers while the goons grabbed her arms and held her down for the time being. The evil laugh returned as he knocked upon the boulder and began to mock Link in a singsong voice on how much trouble he was in, being up a 'shit hole' without a paddle. Saria had ignored the comment, taking the time to break free as he explained his situation, grabbing hold of one of her captors, and slamming it into the other. They fell to the ground, the rest of the group staring around at what the girl had just done.

Diving for the rock, she was caught by Mido, who tried to hole her down, but ended up looking stupid when she slammed him down into the ground, while the others ran away like the chickens they were. Now alone with Mido, Saria preceded to beat the living life out of him, asking over and over where Link was, each time deserved with that he would die down there. Saria really knew where he was, just playing the boy on for the time being, giving him his punishment for the punch. The only thing that stopped her seemed to he the rustle of bushes underground, which she cried out in surprise, jumping upon the rock and beginning to yank upon it.

"Don't just sit there, you idiot, help me! What are you--" Slapping herself mentally. Of course, the others had just ran away, and looking back at the Kokiiri boss he was out of commission for the time being. That wasn't what got her moving, it was a terrible shriek of pain that came from the underground: Link's cry. Shaking with the fear of losing him, her feet spread out, pushing up against the rock with all her might, but it just wouldn't budge an inch. No, no… I am not losing him! Spinning around, she desperately searched for some sort of device, something to help her in her pursuit. Deku sticks were spilt all over the ground, but they wouldn't work, if only she had some sort of-- a gleam in the corner of her eye made her turn around to the source.

Oh my…Sucking in her breath, the bag that Mido had had was now on the ground with the contents spread for her own enjoyment, the glint having been caused by the lone sword. Leaping at her chance, she grabbed the hilt of the sword and spun around in a circle, landing back to her old spot. Sticking the blade under the rock, she used herself as a catapult to jump upon the sword as hard as she could. No good…I-it wasn't working, this is not working. How am I going to get him out! Letting out an Amazonian cry of frustration, she was responded with some slightly giggles, lightly pounding footsteps, and a cry of surprise.

"Miss Saria, what's going on?" Sati rushed up to her side, her other half on Saria's right side, staring at the rock with fascination. "What happened to Mido?" She placed a hand on Saria to pull her back from the rock, but Saria slashed out and began to slam on the blade harder and harder, building the steel piece into a harder metal, which was why now today the blade was made stronger. The force of the rocks had caused it to give in to its soft beauty, since the sword had never been used before, showing off the appeal of a war-veteran, one that had been through so many battles in her entire life.

"It's Link! He's trapped here, help me!" Several more gasps of surprise cried out. Cocking her head back, she saw that most of the girls from the village were with Sati and her sister, maybe just searching for some berries and heard Saria's cries of help. Well, this was to her and the child's advantage, for the girls didn't mind the younger boy. Sati jumped up on the sword too, her sister placing the final spot on the sword, the rock beginning to rise just a bit. Others joined in by a group of them slipping under and helping lift the rock--although not much--off the ground. Only a few inches were open this way, so the rest of the group grabbed Deku sticks and stuck them, trying to do the same technique Saria had, but not sitting upon them. Those sticks were just too weak to stand the torture of that, but being used as a way of moving something--they were made for that--harder than most trees around.

"Damn! It's only open a few inches! Sati! Something is attacking him, get him out!" Kicking the sword repetitively with each jump, she slammed her fist into the rock, crying out in fury. Yet another scream poured out, all the female forest kids perking in fear--Saria wasn't lying. A girl by the name of Jiu, the skinniest of them all, grabbed one of the smaller Deku nuts from her pockets and slipped her skinny arm down there--he would be paralyzed, but so would the monster. Dropping the nut downward, it exploded in seconds, causing all the noise to disappear, only the slight whimpering from Link. Returning to pushing, all that went on for the hours to be, but since none of the victims of the nuts were being attacked it could go on for hours at a time.

Adrenaline perused the young girl, his foster mother, and she jumped upon the rock, slamming herself on top of it by jumping. The first time it budged in the direct a few times, the second time coming up and sliding several feet to the left, the sword shimmying off to the left. Falling inside the hole, her body slammed into the young Link, whose body automatically became undone with the paralysis activities. Taking him into her arms, she handed him back up to the other Kokiiri (who began to kiss and smother him under his wounds, like an infant.) The light poured in and down she saw that a beast, a Deku Scrub was staring up at her with appeasing eyes, just asking her to touch it. So, that thing hurt him, Eh?

"Throw down the sword, Hati!" Sati's twin sister, the shyer of the bunch, silently handed the sword to Saria. She wasn't touching the thing, since her legs were spread across the narrow tunnel--letting her stand without actually touching it. Giving out a glance of hatred, like that of a lioness whose cub had been hurt, she put all her weight in the stab that did more damage to the creature than Mido had done to its counterpart. Sliding deep within the wound, black liquids slid down of its body, a scream bellowing through the smashed nozzle. Leaping for the edge, she pulled herself out, and spread out, throwing the sword like an Olympic discus player. As it sailed through the forest, they pushed the rock back into the ground, sealing the tomb, and proceeded to kick the living hell out Mido.

When the leader was faced with the question of why he did the task, he said because that he loved Saria and she was paying more attention to Link than he was. Most of the girls (and some guys) all cheered them, congratulating them on the new couple--that was except Saria, she simply spit down on him and crossed her arms about his chest. Smothering him in a dung-hole, leaving him there with a hungry Deku Scrub, and attacking her were simply not reason enough to hurt him, that was no reason to do that. Dismissing his love for her as bland stupidity, she to this day would rarely visit him unless it was at the town meetings, the annual Festival of the Stars, or if he bugged her. Those were the only reasons he would see the beautiful girl.

Also, she and the girls put up the gates, so that no one except the female of the Kokiiri, and Link could enter the forbidden zone. When questioned as if to why that was to be, they simply responded that he was better than the rest of the males, deserved more credit, and would be rewarded with that. Try as they might, the place was usually guarded by a Deku scrub who sided with the women, yes, they were capable of speech, at least the halfway decent of the race. Eventually a Wolvo killed the scrub and no one ever visited the place, except Saria and Link, who somehow could avoid the dangers and get past with Saria's song that soothed the beast. Other events between Mido and Link happened in those years they stayed together, but nothing that was savage as this one.

Sure he had wounds, the wounds that had no reason to be there, yet they healed, just as wounds always did. Nothing to savage was done to him--a few tender ribs, one of them broken, and the bruises all over his body. Aside that, that was it, he smelt strange for the next month and a half, also had a mark upon his ankle. It was in the same place where the Tailpasaran had bitten, this the place where the scrub had chewed. With some healing herbs and a month of rest his rise to fame was all right, tightness came around it during the winter, but besides that, it always remained all right, not a limp or anything.

_--------------------_

"There are other reasons I hate Mido. His arrogance, him thinking he is the leader, how he treated me for not having a fairie, and some of those things." Chuckling a little, he looked over to the two girls, eating off of his very words for the past few hours. Speaking of hours, his mind was getting a little tired, so without warning he simply slid the covered over his body and slumbered off peacefully. The faces of his two comrades broke out in fury, but the simple fact was the story was over, wasn't it? Yea, it was over, the story had been finished, there were other stories in the forest, but this one had been so hard on the boy, they (or Navi) hadn't had the heart to awaken him.

"Aw, man! How dare he go to sleep on me, I really enjoyed that." Frowning, she placed her hands upon his shoulders, trying to jut him awake, when Navi tapped her silently upon the shoulder.

"Ruto, let's just go to sleep, it's late--and we need our rest, I have the feeling we are close to your jewel, so if we get out sleep we can be out of her by the morning. Look a Link, he's pooped--we need him at full power tomorrow. You tired?"

"You're no fun!" Grabbing a pillow, she hit the fairie.

"H-hey, aren't you lis--"

"Nah, nah, nah!" Placing her hands over her small ears, she began to hum a little tune to herself. Navi, infuriated, moved over to Link and on the pillow, sleeping right beside his face. Soon she was asleep, and the little princess was bored, wandering about the room for something, trying to open the doors, and going through his satchels. His extensive expertise of weapons was remarkable; each one different in its own ways, the only one she didn't trust were the bombs, and they just looked too dangerous. There she played with his weapons for a few seconds, before the room darkened, signaling Jabu was falling asleep. Stomping her foot hardly, she called out for him to open up the lights, only to be received with a long sigh of ignorance.

"Jabu Jabu…" Whining, soon the experience of sleep overtook her, but her own bed was so long away. Crawling up on Link's bed, she slid under the covers with him, wrapping her arms about his waist, sliding her head on his shoulder with a sweet sigh. So nice… she thought, sliding down into unconsciousness. Unfortunately for the two heroes, they did have silent nightmares that night, the elixir of the dreams had disappeared sometimes during the day, so throughout the night each of them awoke once (different times), looking over to Ruto with content and slipped back to sleep. Dreams only making up the happy thoughts of the land, each night they suffered with them, but only one or two, tonight being very lucky to live them out in peace. Ruto's dreams were always nice and innocent, like herself, the im-purifying thoughts of evil never penetrating her.


	13. Chapter XII An Anemone of Electricity

Chapter XII: An Anemone of Electricity

Copyright: I do not own Zelda, Nintendo does. Story by Habuki productions.

"You all ready to go." Leaning against the wall, he watched the two of them get themselves ready for the journey. Each one was wearing the same clothes as yesterday (well Ruto still naked.) Each gave a nod of approval and they took off outside of the room, the room led back into the room from yesterday with a door right to the north of them. Since Ruto was wide-awake, she walked along with them that were until they entered the new room, for as soon as they entered turmoil of trouble hit them. Sliding the skin through, his hands locked around Ruto's, Navi right near him, the trio slipped inside and stared up at the place in excitement.

"Oh, oh, oh! Link, give me that, get me up there!" Struggling to reach to the top of the room, she jumped up and down to take hold of the small little octagon of land, sitting upon a top shaped like a dredge. Besides that little part of the room, the room was empty, but why did she want to get on it then? On top of the platform, with all its shining glory, was a sapphire shaped like a flower, adorned with gold all around it. Taking a few steps back so it could see the small piece, his immediate thoughts turned to that it had to be the jewel, of course, judging from Ruto's actions. I haven't asked her about the jewel yet…oh jeez.

"What's that, Ruto?"

"Jeez, Navi you can be dense, it is my jewel!" Squealing in content, she would occasionally grasp the ledge, but he thrown down for it was just to high to climb on by her. Turning around with those hips placed on hips, she stared down at the younger boy and gave out a huff of fury. From the look upon Link's face he got the idea and walked by Ruto, sword sheathed, lifting her up in his arms and placing her upon his head. Standing on his head was just the balance she needed! Now she leapt forward, the edge just above her stomach, and yanked herself up to the top of it. Sprinting for the jewel, she grasped it in both hands and cuddled with it, but her celebration was cut short when the platform began to rise.

"R-Ruto! Jump down!" It's too late; she's too high. Jumping forward, he was pushed back by the edge of the platform and slammed into another wall. Slinking to his knees, grasping the bruise that had been pushed upon; the boy grasped his sword when the platform reached at its top, (becoming blended with the roof) a scream echoing out. Ruto's scream, he knew it from the sound of it, and clasped the edge of his sword, his boomerang tucked down inside of his belt. Finally the platform returned to its normal level, but anything looking like Ruto did appear.

"Link…get back!" Shoving him against the wall, she guarded him as the huge beast jumped from the platform and down to the ground. Now from the platform to the wall was about twenty feet wise, which this creature was an inch smaller. Being so compacted against the thing gave it a disadvantage, especially when the spikes from the island stuck out and impaled the creature in its skin. The huge octopus cried out, yes, it looked like a cousin to the Octaroks. With a bellow of pain it took off in a different direction, a small orb across its rear was cracked open, as if a weak spots. Link would have taken it, if that thing wasn't so fast.

_--------------------_

By the time he turned around, the thing was only a few feet away from him! Skidding along the wall, the shield held out in a worrisome manner, the beast pressed against the shield and compacted him down inside the skin. No air was given to him this time, crying out in the pain as his oxygen disappeared from his body. Swimming through the skin, it acting like an ocean of water, his thoughts went aside for something. How do I beat it, how do I beat it! Sighing, he looked along the edges for Navi, whom didn't seem to be with him for the time being. Slumping against the wall, he waited for the Octarok to come back around until he thought up his first plan, the thing slower this time, for the spikes had slunk in.

When its' in pain it, it gets scared and runs; now it's walking. I have some time to spare. With another huge bruise of the shield going to be implanted on his, he threw it upon the platform and ran to the left of the circular room, keeping his distance from the creature. This way it was so much easier to think with the beast behind him, that he almost enjoyed it, but then his thoughts went back to how he was supposed to exterminate this creature. Was it the master of this place, maybe, since there were other Octaroks around, but then again what about the past masters? Each one had had kin of some kind, the Gohma babies, the Dodongo babies, and now the Octaroks? No, that's not right, the Octaroks were outside and I've only seen two easy ones!

"Navi where are you!" Damnit, where is she! His thoughts turned to dread, that she was still in that abomination of the water. No, she had flown up when that happened, hadn't she? He couldn't think, the thoughts making him all nervous, should he save his fairie or go on and fight? His answer was given when the Octarok gave out a roar of pain spinning around from its general direction and taking off in a flash of speed. Seeing the crack on the octopus gave him an idea, the thing resembled an eye, and eyes were weak. Gripping the boomerang, he gave out a running speed towards the monster, throwing it right at the crack of it.

Throwing himself forward, cursing silently when the boomerang returned to him, he regretted to notice the thing had bombarded over him again. Oh, no. My shield! Giving out a cry of pain when he was pressed up against the wall again, this time in full force, something tender gave way in his ribs, making him grip the edges of himself again, this time throwing himself out of the liquid in a few seconds. Spluttering the juice out, he threw the boomerang at the monster that was only a few feet away from him. A beam of light left the boomerang, piercing the creatures eye-crack that opened up to reveal a green light, it also turning a deep blue and spinning around.

_What's going on!_ There was no point in calling out; Navi wasn't at his side anymore. The beast began to spin round and round, moving in dizzying effects. It went on until it stopped, the crack on its rump facing him, and began to run away from him. Crying out, the boy grabbed his sword and threw it forward at the open eye, and a squeal of pain jutted out as the thing spun around, beginning to charge him. Biting his lip, he leapt upon the wall, but this time bounced up towards the platform. Grabbing himself up, the boy pulled his shield upon his chest, so to guard that area, looking over the edge of the platform.

His blade was still stuck inside the giant Octarok which was bad, because now that he had exploited the enemies' weakness, how was he going to stop it without a sword? Tears of pain whistled down his cheeks, the pain from the bruises were aching since his heavy shield was upon it, so he switched it back in the normal position. Checking his boomerang out, he threw it out with skill, aiming with the tip towards the left, so it would swing around and hit it when it came infront of him. The rang whistled as he smashed into the monster, which in response began to spin around in a angry manner, giving Link his chance to pounce out.

Jumping down, he landed on the spinning monster, leaning over the edge, and stabbing the blade in further. Green liquid poured from the already open wound, the monster crying out in pain again, but throwing him off as it bucked like a bronco. Gripping the blade, he landed right behind it once again, seeing it take off in maddening speed. This is getting annoying! The fight wasn't that hard, his experience coming in, so when the monster spun around towards him, about to blow, he threw the sword up and sliced right at its eyes. A mistake for the octopus, indeed, with blinding speed it began to spin around, not stopping for anyone.

_Damnit!_ He waited for his moment and launched the blade down inside the gut wrenched green area. It seemed this was the monster heart, for the final time it pierced the center, only penetrating the barriers previously. When it moved forward, the green light shut off, the remaining green in its remaining eyes disappearing, while the Octarok sank down in a mass of skin. One remaining sigh gave out from its nozzle before it lay down inside the mess it had creating, shutting down permanently. Now he had to search for his fairie, he couldn't find her anywhere before, but now was all right. Going over to the area where he had sunk in both times, the boy breathed back some air, diving inside the fleshy waters.

That didn't help, the water was so thick that within ten seconds he had to pull his head out gasping for air. Using his sword as a desecrator, the boy hacked and slashed through the flesh (whining at the screams of Jabu), coming out to the area that he had been secured in. Searching around the empty area, he choked back his fears--staring down and diving back through the portal that swam back into the Octarok room. Bipedal feet landed on the ground, bowing his head in silence, a bit of honor to his former friend.

_Former? What the hell are you talking about!_ His mind screamed out at him in range. Regretting the former thought, his head bowed as he silently apologized. How dare he say something so vile, it made him sick? Biting his tongue, the boy stared around the room for some sort of sign or glow within the room, something that might lead him to the whereabouts of Navi. Gripping the sword, he jumped at the octopus and began to scrounge around him, to check his stomach for maybe her remains. It was a last resort, but he just had to give it his all, for there was nothing else do to. Closing his eyes and holding his breath, the lad dove inside the multiple colored guts of it.

Not ever looking up, his nose was filled with the disgusting liquids, his eyes burning to open for the satisfaction of his whereabouts. Hands palmed around for some sort of body, some sort of evidence of her, but to his luck he came up with nothing. Pulling out of the body, the smells from the carcass finally gave in, Link vomiting inside of the dead animal. Wiping the bile from his lips, he sat down and began to call out to his former guardian.

"Navi! Navi! Where are you! Please, if you come back, I-I'll be good, I won't complain. Oh, Goddess, Navi! Ruto is safe--I think, but what happened to you!" His voices were in vain, his throat growing tired after a while, taking a chug of the liquid, and cried out until his own voice becoming hoarse again. Sitting up, the guts making him wretch with pain, he removed his clothing and ran the rest of the canteen over the rest of the tunic, leaving only a little left to drink. Cold water, the saliva in the ground, and some good scrubbing got his tunic only smell half-bad, the guts knocked off of his sword, shield, satchel, and belt. Snapping his clothes and supplies, he secured the sword in his belt and the boomerang, so that they were at some great reaching places, for something else that came on. Something told the boy that wasn't the main monster of the boss. Maybe some sort of stronger minion to help it with its dirty deeds?

His mind added helpfully. Mentally shrugging, his eyes reverted up to the top of the room, hopefully thinking she followed him when the monster came down. But how do I get out of here?

Oh, maybe this is some sort of bridge. Climbing up the platform was stupid, but it might act as an elevator, so it was worth a chance. Luck gave it when he scaled up the carcass and landed on the island, the elevator's reactions giving in as it rode up to the top of the second floor. Connecting to the new floor, he leapt on the solid ground before the elevator returned to its original place. Taking a look around for his two companions, he couldn't spot a thing. Traps weren't in his path, or any monsters, hell anything to do except another one of those idiotic doors. Huffing out some breath, he grabbed his boomerang, for he smelt the electricity in the air, and ran out through the door, not even waiting for it to fully open.

Nailing the two Biris in two shots, the toughened boy looked around his room, shaking his head with utter disgust. He was on a connecting piece of flesh, or so he thought the ground was, that led down into a spit valley, nothing down there at all. Another piece of flesh connected on the other side of the room, but guarded by two crimson wriggling things. Are those tongues? Why would a tongue be down here! Considering there wasn't a tongue down at the beginning, these must have been here. Thinking of nothing else to do, he was going to try to do the trick he preformed on the big Octo: paralysis.

A few misses with the boomerang, but when he nailed the first it turned to purplish-blue colour as the Octo had just nearly a fourth of an hour later. Leaping the four feet to where the tongue rested, it sank a few inches, shivering with another wave of disgust. Staring forward, he hit the other tongue with the boomerang, storing it down in his belt before leaping upon the newest tongue just as the old one reverted to its sloppy manner of wriggling around. Being hit with saliva in the middle of the air, he landed on the second tongue and rolled forward the six feet length to the next piece of flesh. Another stupid door, these dungeons so disgust me. Bitterness was around, his jewel could be gone, his partner and new ally dead. Why shouldn't he be bitter? Slamming his fist into the door, a long whimper occurred before it opened up for him. Smiling a little, the force method was so useful sometimes.

_Just what I've been looking for!_ His next room was clear of enemies, but a piece of land stood out for someone to step upon. Grinning, he jumped on the new piece, it scurrying down to the first floor, connecting to what he had expected. Yes, the new piece connected with what he considered the main room and revealed that passage he had so long sought out for release. Ruto would have worked for the enlarged tooth, so he went around the corner to search for something to put in its place. A weapon would have also worked, but he dare not leave something so valuable outside, especially if it was something he might need in the near future.

The pain in his leg deepened as he found one of the two boxes from earlier, picking it up with ease. It wasn't as if the things were heavy, it was just all the walking was taking some considerable amount of pressure on his wound, and since it wasn't getting any better when he set the box on the tooth, he sat down. Running through his satchel, he applied some stinging alcohol to the wound, throwing the old bandage off to the side, he wrapped the wound up once more and lay down across the area, searching the swirling amounts of holes upon the floor. Nothing to do but let it rest. What shall I do? There is always wonder what will happen if I happen to find her dead? No, I shalt think that, I shall not think such impure thoughts. Wrapping himself up into a little ball, as in his story from last night, he rested his head upon his chin, beginning to sob. Where is she?

_--------------------_

_Damnit, damnit! Where am I? I can't talk, what's wrong?_ Only darkness surrounded the young fairie, she could vaguely remember what happened from before. Yes, when Ruto had gone, she had followed as the octopus came forth, not even seeing it, trying to get to the child and the jewel. That was ultimately her demise, for when she was at the top, she saw something huge grab hold of Ruto, the girl screaming as she was dratted down into the skin. If Navi had seen the Octo then she would have laughed at the size comparison to this thing. Navi didn't get a good glance except an arm that reached out, a clear arm that would make her shiver with pain.

When she was sucked away, the sides of the wall began to stretch out in both directions, preventing her with no escape. Going down towards Link, the portal closed shut on her, giving her nothing to do but cry out to anything that would listen. That was the last conscious thought she read, for now she was surrounded in darkness, liquids were about her, and she cried and beat within the walls for someone to help her. Wishing that Link were all right, hoping that he would not leave this place unless she was tucked into his arms. Sure it was selfish, but if Link defeated that creature that got Ruto, then she didn't want to be left in the belly of a whale her entire life. Digging forward, she noticed the shadows remained, but that she was getting somewhere.

Maybe I have a chance? Hell, it was worth something, but this was getting her nowhere with her digging claws. Letting a barrier surround her entire body, she used her chi to power it so that she could literally drill through the flesh for a way out. Screeches of pain and thrashing around the walls came from the outside world, her hearing it, but not caring in the least, sure it would hurt. Nothing came easy, that was quite true for their case, no so much as Jabu's. Giggling silently, her voice concealed for some reason she wouldn't figure our, she only thought of Link, her determination that kept her going on through this hellish place.

_--------------------_

_Get a grip! Handle yourself, as if she was with you_. A voice, one not that of his own, was speaking to him directly. Blinking a little, the boy looked up and stared around in the room, but it wasn't the room he had been laying in only a few minutes ago, he was in a blue room. The room was actually a small piece of ground surrounded with four platforms. Staring around, the boy caught wind of what was below him, a bellow of fiery lava, and above him was a sky with the sun so bright you couldn't even see the clouds. Sitting on the platform, he stared around the find the searcher of the voice that had commanded him, a feminine voice.

Twitching, he felt something of a cold breeze surround his body, and turning around caught the image of a woman. Her back was turned to him, long blue hair cascading down her back, a pair of Hylian ears peering out. So, she was a Hylian, for her fare skin was so pale an adult she was, so Kokiiri was out of the question. The other alternatives were out of the question, even the more relative looking Gerudo. Walking towards her, he tried to touch her shoulder, the arm only going through her body, and jumping back, he gasped out loud.

Spinning around, the hair over her eyes so her blue eyes shone out, malicious cerulean eyes. Crossing her arms across her chest, a white dress felt across her body, and she held a white want with a Triforce on it. Staring towards the boy, suddenly her face changing. As if warping in and out, the face of the beautiful woman was dropped that of a dark skinned man with red hair, the dress replaced with some black armour, and that of her wand was a huge double-edged sword pointed at him.

Swinging forward, the boy jumped back away from her, but the ground that had been sitting on had shrunk, somehow, him grasping the edge of the land, hanging over the land. Staring down at the boy, the sword he gripped was drug across the smaller land, scraping down it with all his might. Floating above the land, the man with his face having only soulless black, grabbed the white of the land that formed into three separate triangles. A malicious chuckle began to form in his throat, breaking back his head to scream with laughter.

"You shall never receive the God's powers, boy!" Throwing down his sword upon the left hand, Link's silent scream echoed through his mind, the hand flowing with blood, but something was weird, where the man stabbed was a Triforce symbol, with the left one glowing. On his other hand he freed, tears streaming through his body, but the man with no face had planned this, and he launched out an energy attack at the boys' body. The world seemed to into slow motion, his eyes widening with fear; the mouth cupped open in a pure scream of agony, awaiting his doom. While this happened, the man continued to chuckle, even as the fire of the energy penetrated his body and sent the boy turned into a small corpse.

_--------------------_

Everything in the nearby distance of that room heard the loud scream. Each one roared with fear of what was happening, even if they were evil, the pure agony of that scream sent shivers down their spines (even the invertebrates.) Some pulled out and covered their ears; others looking for prey just sighed sadness and laid their heads upon the things they had killed, the once stalking prey having the lunch lost. Why with the terror, even Navi had heard it, crying out for Link to hang on and continuing in the distant direction she was going. The only one not hearing it was the shivering Ruto, who was trapped with a beast so hefty it wouldn't out large the Dodongo King, but twice as deadly.

Shivering badly, the boy uncurled from the ball and looked over the room, where a small hole was in the center of the room, having been there before. Laying his head over the edge, you might have thought he was puking his guts out, but he just let the tears drip down restlessly. Pulling up with some strength, he reached in his bag for something to eat, disappointed to find nothing, so with a stomp of his foot he began to stretch himself out. The scream he had given, but didn't remember it, for he was still semi-conscious when it happened. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Link faced the doorway, blowing the mussed hair from his face, and ran through the door, hoping over the crate (which for some reason had a Lon Lon insignia upon it.)

Pressing downward the hill, the boy stared around his surroundings, noticing that the walls were made entirely of stone. Strange, how did stone get out here, his thoughts rambled as he looked down into another pit of saliva, only this time he had to jump into it, for the landing spot was a good sixty feet away. Falling down on knee-deep saliva, his senses numbed with disgust while he stared up at the room he was supposed to go too…frowning that a pack of mucus stood in its way, but nowhere to sit something down. He could have easily gone for the other box in the following room, but there wasn't a tooth to set it. Then his eyes roamed over to the large pillar right next to him.

It stretched up about twenty feet in the air, and not being able to see what was on it, he scourged the nasty mucus webs just like he had crawled across the similar vines from the Deku Tree. Reaching the top, and taking a view around, his eyes grasped as a pack of Biris was heading towards him. Biting his lip, he looked down in shame for not checking the room over. Unsnapping the boomerang, the lad began to throw the rang back and forth, missing some, but getting most of them. Still they plundered on towards him, looking for their prey with the tentacles crackling with shocking moments, desperately wanting to stick them into the young flesh for a bit of shocking sensations.

Having nailed three of them, the remaining seven scurried infront of him, stretching out some of their stingers for full access. Biting away a cry, he watched them come closer and closer…so close he could feel the hot breath from their blind mouths, running down his chest. Curling up, his boomerang headed up, he threw one last shot at the monsters, only to be relieved when it somehow bounced off of the invisible barrier, returning to him. What is this? Staring forward, mouth gaped in utter surprise, the Biris were ramming towards him, but still ten feet apart.

Rubbing the remaining sleep from those beautiful hues, he saw what was holding them back: webbing of some sort was keeping them from penetrating on his territory. Spiders, no there aren't any of those Skull-whatever they are around here. Maybe some sort of snot from Jabu, or the main creature of this place? Ugh! Whatever it was, he thanked the Goddesses for it.

Not that his celebration went in vain, the things were starting to find out the way past it and turn the corner, coming towards him, but that was, sadly, their downfall. The largest was bunched up in a group of four, Link nailing them with two shots of the boomerang that took the duo out at a time, and the following happening to the other Biris surrounded in this place. Gripping his blade, staring through the light saliva web, he noticed a rotting tooth up past the barrier. Just like in the first room! Instead of aiming forward, he pressed his back near against the wall of the pillar and threw the monstrous crescent over towards the tooth, to the left. That caused the boomerang to swing over, smashing the tooth into pieces, and return back to his gripping hands, causing him to jump for joy when a sudden ding went overhead. He couldn't tell what had happened, but his hunch was that a door had opened.

Crawling down the secured vines, forgetting he didn't check them like before a very fatal mistake, the boy would drop down each time, only to catch himself in his death-defying (or idiotic) stunt. For his pleasure, he didn't know what was happening, he really hated that Navi was gone, could be dead, and that the jewel and Ruto had disappeared all at once too, maybe if they had gone at separate times he would cope, but no! Falling the last four feet, he submerged in the saliva, pulling out with some retching sounds. Wading through the water quickly, he pulled out to the small hill that connected the room he had been trying to get to this whole time, scrounging it in a matter of seconds.

Taking one good look at his clothes, wiping them off with the most prestigious care, the boy placed the sword in his right hand, the boomerang in his left. Something about this room gave him a pre-destined feeling, the same he had had before each major mass monster in the room, and it was about those Biris that really frightened him. Dodongo babies had been hard; the Gohma's had been tough, and now the Biris. Could that be the major boss, a giant Biris? It was possible, yet he had faced a giant Biris before, the ones clumped together in that single bounded shell. If it were, he'd have no use for his silly shell for protection. Grabbing the canteen, chugging the last gulp of water that was in it, he stored it back in its place, stepping up to the doors, sliding in them with that feeling biting at his neck.

Darkness and a wet feeling overcame him, not at all like the saliva from the previous rooms, but something like there was something in here producing its own spit. Trying to get a full view over his position or something in here, he realized he just couldn't, that it was perfect for the enemy. This one was smarter than the others, that was for sure, Gohma had had dark surroundings, but she had revealed herself too quickly, the King going for a sneak attack, yet unaware at his demolitions disposal. The wetness was up to his feet, giving him a bad feeling if the boss was a Biris; he'd have to find some dry land or something to survive anything electrical that it gave out. His luck was answered when he came up the crust of Jabu, sighing with deep relief, his jovial expression turned to dread when the crackle assured.

Suddenly the room lit up in a prestigious manner, as if it were a surprise party, him having the birthday. Covering eyes with a smooth hand, he peeped through the digits at what the light source was, backing up into the water with fear. Just before him was a creature, it didn't match the size of his former rival, but the deadliness of it gave off such an animosity he couldn't help but weaken in the knees. Giant Biris surrounded the monster, that stood the exact height of the room, its three tentacles connected to the roof of the room, while scullery legs jutted at the end of it. Chewing upon his lip nervously, he saw that the Biris were sort of like protective armour, as his shield would be if it could protect electrical energy. Sticking the sword back into its sheath he readied the boomerang, giving off the stance in a showdown.

Those three slithery arms that connected to the roof were a deep crimson, glowing brighter and brighter with some yellow tinted in it_. So the electricity is connected to Jabu, Eh! If I cut them--oh Goddess!_ They're not even protected! Nodding quickly, he stared at three violet tentacles that stuck out in the open, their distinct characteristics making him even more nervous, they were just as long as the ones connected to the flesh, but at the end they shaped into a cup with a piece of skin sticking out. Below the ray of tentacles was a head that matched the colours of the slimy appendages mixed together, but that part didn't matter, the lower region must have been the most futile, it was least guarded. He couldn't even spot what colour that part of the belly was, since it was covered with the monsters. It must have been done examining her prey, for soon it shot something from that purple appendage.

_Holy Farore!_ No time to react, the bolt surrounded his body, tearing inside, making him scream in utter terror. These attacks weren't like the lightening he saw in the clouds on Hyrule Field, they would just torture you, not offering a sweet death, they always surrounded, not went inside. Whatever the little Biris did to him at the beginning of this place were nothing compared to this! Falling upon his knees, the creature closing in for the kill, Link could do nothing but examine the room, seeing some pots only a few feet away and scurried to them, wrapping the pots around him for protection, using his shell too, not caring what happened to it. Was that enough to stop it? It didn't seem, for soon the next shock missed him entirely, but destroyed the spot where all the last line of defense was: the jars.

_Oh, Goddess! First you take her away, put me up against this, how am I supposed too…my boomerang!_ His mind stuck panic, noticing that it wasn't in his hands any longer. Looking up and down, not caring that the thing was absorbing my energy from the fish to give out another blow, he came upon the rang that stood only a few feet behind the creature. Mustering up a hidden power he didn't think possible, the boy limped forward (dodging the next electrical attack by only an inch), rolling over to his boomerang and holding it over his face in defense for the new blow.

Slamming up against the wall wasn't a nice way to go, the attack absorbing some of the energy, but not able to hold its own with him. Sinking inside a puddle of the water, the boy knew it couldn't help but start to cry. Oh, no…this is it, the water with intensifies the power and I'll be fried. His skin already had a few chaff marks upon it, but the water was going to kill him, he knew it. Closing his eyes as the tentacles crackled louder, he gave out one last breath of hope, aiming with blurry eyes at the line that stood above the attacking arm, throwing with all his might at the thing.

_--------------------_

_Oh, Goddess, Link!_ Flying through out the skin, the screams intensifying as she went at a faster speed, she had heard the first scream from Link and continued forward. His scream echoed long and hard as she continued to break the barriers deep within the Jabu. At first the creature had resisted, trying to attack her with those weak antibodies, but now it was actually helping open the skin so it didn't have to suffer any more pain from the chi ball (which was nearly running dry, for that matter.) When she had gone into hyper-mode it began to scream louder and louder, until its paths opened up to match hers so that she could turn off her ball and zip through at a faster pace.

Finally the door compressed some sort of warp hole, not giving Navi much chance to think, it literally sucked her through the hole into a region that didn't look to familiar to her. Thoughts were washed away when another scream of her friend echoed through, this time in the same room! Spinning around, she caught wind of the creature from before headed over to Link, who was slumped down in a pile of spit from the creature. Being in the water, she saw the crackles of energy, knowing automatically it would shoot some sort of ancient Luminaries attack at the boy, that would fry him to pieces. No, I shall not let that happen!

Flying faster than ever, she trudged the room just in time to see that the boy was throwing his new weapon at one of the tentacles that connected to the top of the flesh, absorbing the energy from Jabu (she guessed.) Unfortunately, his fate was bad and the boomerang was about to miss, when Navi stepped in and shot a beam of energy at the jewel of the weapon, causing some sort of chain reaction. Absorbing the blow, the boomerang spun in a ricocheting manner, coming to a complete halt infront of the right tentacle, and slicing through with pain. The bolt stopped dead in its tracks, the creature crying out as purple blood violated its skin, making it retreat for the time being. Falling to Link's side, she desperately checked over the semi-conscious boy.

_--------------------_

"…Up! Wake up!" A hard sting was delivered to his cheek. Feeling the pain return to his body, he remembered his situation and jumped up out of the water, dodging a lightning bolt, making him look stupid, for there was nothing to dodge. Not feeling the aftershock of the wave, he looked over to the Biris that had spread off of the monster, as it tried desperately to repair itself, more than that just getting anger off (the wound couldn't be healed.) Reaching his hand out, the boomerang touched his palm, but who had woken him up? Staring off to his left, he caught wind of his girl, she was standing before him with a worried look on his face.

"Navi! Oh, Navi! You're alright!" Crying out in joy, forgetting the pissed off Biris and its master, he pounced the young Fairie beginning to cover her in wet, sloppy kisses, his eyes watering with the joy of the aftermath. Being prompted with another slap, he blinked a few times at the also wet-in-the-eyes Fairie who shook her head blankly, pointing up at the monster. It wasn't back to normal yet, its armour was still spinning around, not even trying to attack him. What was up, were they just there for practice, or could he?

"Get 'em first, Link, then we can celebrate."

"R-right, Navi. You are right, now let's go kick some behind!" Holding up his triumphant weapon, the boy looked over to Navi with the repetitive look on his face, some information.

"It's called the Bio-Electric Anemone Barinade."

"How do you get this information?" His eyes gazing dreamily at her, his wondrous face formed up into a smirk. She gave a nervous chuckle of embarrassment, covering her crimson face with her barrier, shrugging a shoulder.

"Just do, I look into their DNA. Anyway, this creature is electric, but you see how its belly is covered up? I think that if you rid the armour of it, then we can attack that, why else would it be that way? I am just taking a guess, for this creature is more complex than our previous ones, harder to read, too." Nodding solemly, that was the data information, but he didn't know DNA gave names, and weaknesses, but anyway, he held up his weapon of mass destruction, charging forward at the armour. The boomerang was just as effective as on the larger Biris cousins, for each one did disappearing into a heap of bubbles as soon as he took care of them. A dozen or so Biris were compacted on the monster, but he only got three when the things compacted back on Barinade, invulnerable for the time being.

Flipping backwards, the boy caught himself before slipping in the water, this time finding it easier to run from the shocks of the monster when they fired it at him. Only two of the tentacles remained around, the other hanging limply, but they were both shooting streams of attacks at him, making it harder and harder to dodge them. Navi stood at his side, dodging with him, and firing marks at the two tentacles, trying to disable them, finding the only way was to shoot the boomerang with a power-up attack and launch it forward. The only problem being that the dodging was making it too hard to shoot a Ki attack and follow up with a consecutive aim in only two seconds.

Their luck ran forward when the monsters began to drain back in some, giving them a clear shot at the monster. Link was a little more chaffed, he'd been nicked during the dodging frenzy, so it took it back ten times when the ultra boomerang slashed across the second tentacle, the first one let go of draining the good fish and proceeded to let loose its Biris again, like an idiot. Maybe they had misjudged this one, for as soon as it let the Biris gone to go after Link this time, he took them out with some quick boomerang attacks, grinning when the monster was back in consciousness, only to find it without armour. Well, they hadn't misjudged the creature too badly, for it implanted its body from the neck down into the ground, firing off the last tentacle faster than anyone could imagine.

Oh, no! Maneuvering past the shots became some sort of game for the next fifteen minutes, hiding between some pots that were around, the others that hadn't been destroyed. While this was happening, the thing would search helplessly for them, firing off in all directions, finally finding them. When all the pots were gone, nothing important in them, he was left with the simple fact of nowhere to hide, and it was good place for the monster to come back up again, this time with a dozen more monsters upon its body. Gasping in fear, the boy backed away from the creature, his eyes widened with terror, how were they supposed too? The invisible grin given off from the Barinade said it all: you can't.

"It's armour, Navi, how do we stand it?" Another slower assault of attacks from the lone creature were given off once again, the boy dodging them with ease, since there wasn't but one of the tentacles left. Dodging them was easy; he even had time to throw off an energy-powered boomerang, that missed the creature. Hopping back and forth across the battlefield, eyes always trained on the enemy (something he learned from Impa), the boy questioned to her again. How were they supposed to stop a creature that could generate infinite armour?

"Well, since the last tentacle is about to be destroyed, and she can't repair them, let's go in for the assault before we take the Biris out. Yes, while it is recuperating, only take half the Biris out, and we'll take the rest of the shots."

"Are you crazy! That's ludicrous, it's suicide…it's…it's…crazy enough to work! Good work, Navi," Slapping her upon the back, there were a few more dodging, before he threw out the powered rang and nailed the part of the monster on its last tentacle. No more attacks of energy, it really satisfied the boy somewhat, and leaping forward, he handed Navi the boomerang as he launched in for the assault of the creature. Hearing yells of throwing the heavy rang, he raised the Kokiiri sword from its sheath, and beginning to launch attacks upon the creature.

_--------------------_

Navi hadn't expected Link to throw the boomerang at her, but that was a better plan than hers was. This way none of them would get attacks, and then they could kill off the armour, and the creature much quicker. Swinging forward at the first trio of creatures, they quickly turned into the multi-coloured bubbles, disappearing into the atmosphere. Squealing with joy, she flew up in the air, making the Biris follow her, so they wouldn't stop Link with his beautiful caliber, the magnetism of this plan making her bit herself mentally. It wasn't that Link was stupid or anything, quite the contrary, but a tactician he could not be in some cases, this one of the rare times it surprised her to have someone like him around.

All of the jellyfish swarmed up, excluding the approach of their fellow siblings and going off in single pairs. Great, more work… It was worth it, though, the loud screams of the Biris making her glad to be taking care of these minor pests, her guess was that this Anemone didn't have as many pairs of armour that Link thought she did. How else did it take her so long, she was scrounging them up, never did she think that they would be smart enough to punish her for her crimes. Whipping the rang forward once again, taking down the closest of the bunch, the boomerang was spinning around when it took out a group of three that had so idiotically paired together again for some sort of ambush.

Ambushes were stupid with this weapon that acted like an electricity rod, and since Link didn't seem to need it anymore, she didn't mind taking it off his hands when he hauled it over. Grinning, she led them further away from the battle scene, leaving back a trail of dust that was so intoxicating that they just had to follow for a piece of the action. Some of them were thinking of coming in for some sort of ambush on the boy, but that was quickly taken care of when she sent down the boomerang again (this time charged) to ram three more of them that weren't even together. That is nine down, three to go! Her thoughts rambled on silently as she watched them with the eye of a sniper.

For once and all, she atoned their sins once more by throwing the boomerang out for the final attack. They hadn't grouped together, but with her last bit of Ki pushed into it, she was able to smash them all into the trio. Jumping for utter joy, she caught the boomerang and stared down at the boy, whose situation wasn't as grim as hers, for somehow the tentacles upon it had come back and were shooting up more and more energy. Meanwhile its stomach (which was bloated with slash marks and blood upon it) was spinning around as it twirled like a ballerina in her last performance. Coming to a halt before the boy, he stared back at her, his eyes having a deep and determined look upon them.

_--------------------_

Yes, Link's luck had been better than Navi's, that was, until this happened. The creature would bloat up a few inches each time he slashed it, having gotten in a total of ten slashes while it screamed and regenerated its own limbs. Now that the limbs were back, he had put his sword inside his belt and began to jump back and forth across the battlefield, and yea he knew if he tripped his leg would be sliced off. That didn't seem to be the big problem anymore, all that did was taking out this stupid monster, it was so invincible, how could such a creature possess such power? Finally coming to a complete stop before the creature, he was knocked with an energy bolt (not as powerful as before, a sign it was weakening), and slammed only a few feet away from it. Quickly rolling away from the next one, he was back upon his feet, his mind screaming at him that he had it all wrong.

Look! It's not regenerated, it is sucking from it's own body…or something. It was true; the crimson tails were still hanging limply off to the sides, as the monster continued to fire bolts of its own energy. Okay, so maybe the thing wasn't just a drain creature, it just drained the enemy for so much energy, and it wasn't weak, for this was the energy it had after Link literally tore it to shreds. Blubber hung off of the creature, giving off a sickly display of its guts (no heart), but the rest of its body to him. Holding back to urge to throw up, he was greeted with the view of Navi, who promptly landed upon his shoulder. Taking a quick glance up, he noticed the Biris gone, but the creature wasn't even going underground.

"What's happened, Link!"

"It's sucking from it's own bod--" He was cut off again, jumping to the left with Navi tucked in his hand. Coming to a halt, he began to dodge the attacks as she spoke to him, to concentrate on his work to add a word of help.

"Body, hmm? I took out the Biris, well, what are we supposed to do? Oh, Link, go in for an attack at the body."

Is she crazy, he wondered beyond all belief, there was no way that it would go about this way. "I CAN'T DO THAT! She'll shock me!"

"Take a look, Link, she will not. Before she may have been aiming down at you, but look. Those slime tentacles were her sense of direction, since you took them out, I am guessing--this is just a guess--that she can't point down, so if you go in for the kill, maybe she won't hit you."

"Maybe is a bad bet, Navi."

"If she shocks you, it won't hurt as bad, look at her energy, she is so weak it's sad."

"That is true…fine you wi-" Being shoved off in the general direction, he gave a growl at the Fairie with his weapon. Pulling out the sword from his belt, he slid under the monster--not under, but right beside---and began to slice and dice at the creature. Roars of pain went out everywhere, the spinning creature trying to grab him with arms that just weren't there. Heh…stupid creature… Navi's hypothesis was correct, for the bolts only came three feet within him (at the most), never even coming close to him; the aftershocks did make him a bit light-headed, yet that was resolved with some quick reflexes. Jumping upon creature, he slammed the hilt of his blade within the monster, which threw him off with a bind of its bloating becoming too much of a habit.

The sword slung out of Link's arms, staying inside the creature, which it would remain until the monster blew up. Yes, the bloating caused the creature to die, with its hidden heart no where to be seen, the bloating was so immense that it was swell three times its own size, a limit that could not be mustered much longer. Link saw the opportunity of his winning, reaching inside of his pocket and smashing out a bomb. Pressing the quick fuse on the demolitions, he threw it straight inside the hole, leaping upon the ground and covering his own ears for the protection he know wasn't needed. If it had only missed the monster would have lived, but Lady Luck wasn't on Barinade's side this time, it was on Link's.

Navi was at Link's side, covering under his hat with fear when the monster exploded with sudden passion. Guts and everything else flew across the place, covering Link and Navi (concealed under the shield) so the Hyrule shield protected them against any nasty infections. Breathing with a small sigh of relief, the bruises of his most horrible place, imbedded inside of his mind, he couldn't help but sling the shield aside and break out in a cry of relief. After all this time, it was really over, and he just didn't mean the leader's demise, he meant the whole enchilada. Everything was gone, no more searching for jewels, no more scars, sure it had been fun in the long run, and he'd remember it for his long life. Frankly, he was glad it was gone!

Finding no where else for his acute weapon, Link stored the boomerang down in his satchel, snapping it shut. Giving a deep sigh of content, the boy turned around, only to find the familiar looking blue light, and a particular beaming young Zora. It was Ruto! Smiling, he pushed its sword back in its home, running up into the blue light, with the feeling of over wealth entering his mind. Navi was right by his side, and a silent Ruto stared on, her pale white cheeks now giving off the brightest colour of crimson ever seen. She must have seen the fight, maybe captured somewhere about, and saw the whole thing, probably seeing how skilled he was in battle? Fighting Shaboms was nothing compared to this creature.

His expectance of the overwhelming feeling of instant restoration was promptly thrown away; sure he received the power of his accomplishments (smaller than ever before.) So the child decided that for the first two dungeons he needed to grow a lot, but for the last one he had had his fair share of strength, only needing a real small dose, the healing mystified him. Maybe it was because he would be healed at when his burden of this mission was gone, the evil Ganondorf wiped out of existence, and him and his fairie going back to wince they came. Stepping down into the blue light, all went white as day, as they were sent from the bottom room of the dungeon, out of the Jabu and to a secure spot.

Landing on his own two feet, he noticed they were right on that huge slab of rock her had commented on mentally before. Yes, before them was the trees and that cavern he had wanted to explore, but instead was suckled in by the evil Jabu. Cocking his head to Ruto, he was greeted with the weirdest feeling he didn't expect from her: shyness. Yes, the princess was staring at him--no drooling over him-- with her eyes widened with excitement, the blush having been contagious in her skin, as both cheeks were illuminated, not to mention most of her face. Placing her hands back behind her back, she hunched forward, just staring at him.

Smiling warmly, he took a few steps back, greeted with the satisfaction of the end of the ledge, but caught himself with a tug of the silent Navi, who was just as curious as to what Ruto's intentions were. It was quite known that she had seen the fight, why else would she be acting this way? She was obviously impressed with his tolerance of pain, the association of tactics and everything else about him. Maybe she didn't see me cry… he thought out with a shrug, staring back into her eyes, staring up at her. Only a few inches over her, they seemed to grow as her gaze grew more and more intense, flaring over his entire form.

"Urm, Princess Ruto"

"YOU!" She poked him upon the chest, which he caught himself once again, glaring at her, but her tone had calmed down, her arms going back behind her back. "You…you were so cool! I-I couldn't imagine you could be this good, or this cool!" Smiling playfully, she reached against his chest, running her fingers upon them blandly, which caused the boy to flush and look down at the ground, while Navi's jealously began to show its true intentions. Ruto was ignoring Navi, not even having noticed her, when he pushed back with all her strength, giving the boy a might push off the rock, herself diving off the rock with such grace only a few seconds later.

Splashing into the water, Navi following him down just as soon as he hit, the boy sped to the surface, sputtering out some water. Wiping the clear water from his eyes, he was greeted with a violet set of Ruto's gazing deep into his eyes, suddenly as whiplash did something happen, he realized just what she was getting at. Wow…his cheeks turned crimson, her cheeks having disappeared to the original colour when she dove into the water. Giggling nervously, he shrugged a shy shoulder and began to swim away, only to be leapt upon by some fierce limps, cocking his head to the left and seeing her upon his back. Gasping, he began to kick his feet farther and farther, trying to stay up, but regrettably sunk down deep into the water.

Not even being prepared to breath he gasped for air, his mouth shutting just enough to get a few swallows when he sunk down. Being under the water was her territory, so the underwater breathing mammal stared up at him with those eyes glancing sweetly at him. One of the advantages of the scale was he could see underwater also, the reason he found the bottle in the first place, and staring back at her, he looked off to the side again, shaking his head. Pulling up towards him, she wrapped her legs around his shorter waist, her arms around his neck and began to kiss him long and hard.

Navi had seen the tension this older girl was given, so when they went underwater, she took her time to breath deep and sunk under to water, only to be utterly surprised to find Ruto kissing Link. Growling a little, she grabbed hold of Link's collar, dragging him up to the surface, next to one of the limps he could take hold of. Emotions were getting harder and harder, as she cursed silently towards the little Zora she had claimed as a friend had. How dare she do something like that, especially to her partner, her friend, and dare she say it…her future lover! Not being able to stand it, the fairie flew up towards the sky, a few miles away from them and let out a tremendous scream of fury.

Grappling himself up the huge tree, he sat down with only his legs in the water, the silent Ruto resting her head upon his legs, staring up at him with those eyes gazing. Sure, she was pretty, but no they were two different races and with Navi's jealous fits that wouldn't work out. Navi…where is she? That normal warmth's was gone from his side, looking up only to catch her flying upward towards the clouds, and biting his lips he heard the screech of terror. Ruto, however, didn't expect it and jumped at the scream, looking up at Link.

"What was that?"

"Navi, she can get jealous, sometimes."

"Jealous? How?" She was still as innocent as he was, so the thoughts of him being stolen never entered her mind. Such thoughts were petty and would arrive later in her life, later when things didn't go her own way.

"Like whenever I hang around other girls, or something. I have met a lot of them on my quest, usually girls, I guess it is because I am just a kid, and adults wouldn't mess with me." Chuckling a little, he reached down and petted her head, only to be rewarded with a small little sigh of relief, nuzzling up against his bare legs once more.

"So, Link, did you want something in particular for a reward? A kiss, perhaps."

"Hee, I already got one of those! But seriously…I happened to want your jewel, you don't happen to still have it, do you? The Spiritual Stone of Water." It seemed to be her personal jewel, so claiming it would maybe have to get some sweet-talk involved. Link didn't mind kissing her again to get it, it was his third kiss after all--this one was a bit weirder than the previous ones. One other kisses he had been with Saria and Impa, but this was weirder than ever, for her lips had a coldness to them, yet giving off that beautiful warmth of a kiss. Yea, he didn't mind Ruto in the last, there was nothing wrong with being a Zora, maybe a Goron, but not a Zora.

"Well…my jewel. It did belong to my mother, and she said I should only give it to the man I would be engaged too. Alright!" Her face beamed with pleasure, reaching up from behind her back and producing the beautiful Spiritual Stone of Water. Her eyes seemed to intensify with pleasure, loving that he would be her new fiancé. Ah, the sound made her shiver with pleasure, she didn't care if he was a Hylian--he was her Hylian. It would be years and years until they got married (maybe around thirteen), but she could wait and until then he could fulfil all his duties before becoming a prince for her, later taking over the throne with her. Lost in her own thoughts, she felt his fingers grasp hers as he took his prize.

It quite surprised Link how much he didn't have to do to get the jewel, but the problem was he had no idea what engagement meant. What he guessed was that it meant something like the Sworn Brother ceremony, a bunch of phony talk for a new friend. Grabbing up the jewel, he placed it inside the sack with the other jewels, feeling the warmth it gave to have the three friends placed together again, maybe it was weird, but he guessed they had been separated a long time ago--eager to meet. Standing up, he stretched out his limbs lazily as Navi came down with her emotions fried out, spotting the expressions upon the two, she questions Link.

"What?"

"We got our third stone!" Grabbing her, he tossed her into the air, only to catch her when she returned down.

"W-we do?" Looking over to Ruto--who nodded a little diving off of the platform and swimming off towards the direction of Jabu--Navi stared back at Link in utter disbelief, it was really over? Oh, Goddess, it was finally over! After all this time, no more monsters, no more nightmares, no more fear of expressing herself. Yes, she was going to do it tonight that was decided, after the party she was going to do it!

"We head back to the castle, Navi?" Looking over the rock, he noticed that Ruto had swum out all her way and was now at the other end of the pool, waving for them to follow. Stretching a silent wave to her, he turned his attention back to his guardian, which she gave a silent nod and dove down towards the surface of the water, stopping before it hit her. Slinking his shoulders, he dove down and landed in the water, sticking to the edges of the water so he would reach the surface in the shortest amount of time. Since the rock was not that far from the surface he reached the surface only under ten minutes (no way was he as fast as Ruto) coming to a halt upon the impatient princess who was now looking over her own guardian.

Jabu Jabu seemed to be doing a lot better. Sure he would have scars within him, scars that Navi left in particular, but the sickly pale white look to him now was a vibrant Navajo colour, his gills now brighter than ever. Giving the animal a swift pad on the back, he gave some sort of semi-consciousness thought and dove down to the waters below where it would rest for the night. Speaking of rest, his own body was on the over-load, staring upward and seeing that it was night, so they had been out here for quite a while, it seemed.

"You all ready to go now? I feel a bit faint, so if we have a party, let's keep it quite and nice." Both his companions nodded, and away they strolled down back towards the domain. To say in the lightest, no one was more enthusiastic than the great King, holding an honorable feast in their honour was, giving them everything that Link didn't seem to want. When they had first arrived in the domain it was about nine-thirty that night, but after the party ended it was just about closing in on twelve, Link's muscles crying out for sleep, for someone to bash his brains out. Finally requesting a room, to the King's dismay, he was lead down to the room he had slept in barely two nights ago.

Having been made up once again, the boy sunk down into the covers, draping himself down into only his undergarments and spreading the silk sheets about his body. After a few hours of resting Ruto came up to him, explaining that in three years he was supposed to be back here (three years exactly.) Shrugging a shoulder simply, he complied that indeed he would be back here in thee years. What was the harm anyway, maybe that was when the ceremony was? With a perky giggle, the princess locked his door on her way out and strewed back to her father to tell him the great news of her marriage proposal. Navi stared at the boy, questionably looking upon him.

"Oh, there was a deal to get the stone."

"Deal? What sort of deal?"

"Navi! It's complicated and I am tired, can't we talk tomorrow?"

"Fine, forget that subject, but we can't stop talking now--I…I have something to tell you?" She flew up to his face, looking down at the ground with her veil shielded upon her body. The candles within the room burnt long and hard, giving him room to see all her expressions, frowning as she slipped that piece back on, she knew how much he hated it when she hid her emotions. Trying to push the veil off (of course he knew it wouldn't), he stared down at her with a serious tone, she only got like this when she was trying to be as honest as possible. Letting her rest her chin upon her chest, she stared up as he looked down.

"What is it, Navi."

_Don't do it,_ it spoke with a serious and dark tone.

_Why,_ she herself countered back at the stupid voice.

_He won't love you anymore. _

_That's a damn lie! _

"Navi…Navi!" She felt a push upon her shoulders, shaking herself a little and staring up. There Link placed a veil of concern upon his face; having seen her fall down silent for a few minutes had worried him beyond all belief! Smiling a little, he kissed her cheek, the veil now gone so that nasty after-flavor wasn't in his mouth. Breathing out a nice sigh of content, he placed a hand upon her head, patting her like an animal, as he spoke out. "Tell me what's bothering you, I want to know."

"L-Link…it's just so hard, I'm afraid you won't like me anymore."

"Now why would I do that?" Was she crazy? Did she know who she was? Goddess, that was the most ridiculous thing that he had ever heard, who couldn't love her, more than that, how could he not love her? Navi must have been hit a little too hard on the head for her to think that. Grinning a little bit, he smoothed her beautiful form over, taking the time to study it, it was true that you take things for granted until they are gone, so he should have explored her before she was gone. She isn't going anywhere, idiot. Well, maybe not, but it was best to make sure of the things you love. She was so beautiful and he just sat and around and never noticed--well he noticed--he just took it for granted.

"I-I don't know, it's just nothing we've ever talked about. It has to do with why I am jealous."

This perked his interest. "So what you said before was a lie?"

"N-no, just half of the truth, it was partially, but I didn't tell you the real reason."

"Look, Navi, I know it's hard, but I want you to just go ahead and blurt it out. I know that is what is best, I mean whatever it is, we can accomplish from it, benefit from it, or get over it--I don't care. You are one of my best friends and y'know with my reputation I don't have that many…anyway, I want you to know that whatever it is, I can cope with it. I mean come on--I was just electrocuted more times than I can count, and went through a disgusting fish's insides, I think I can take something like this."

"I love you…and not like that, the real love." Okay, maybe he wasn't ready for that. His face dropped, from the perky expression to that of concern. L-love me? Love me? How could… Turning to the side, he stared down to try to figure this out, try to do what he had mentioned the previous seconds before, but none of those things seemed important anymore, they just seemed stupid. Turning towards her, he caught her looking off to the side, cursing under her breath and crying out with her head placed down inside of her hands, knocking back the sobs, but they would win. This must have been going on for quite a while; it seemed that it had been wracked up.

"How long?"

"I tried to stop myself--believe me--I tried!"

"How long?" He asked again, being patient with her, it was best this way. Link hadn't really been set up for this before, his situation with Saria was that he loved her, and the other kisses had been flirtations, except the emotion in Saria's. This really surprised him, bring him to a desperate stop in his tracks of though. Suddenly the stones didn't seem that important--suddenly defeating Ganon didn't seem that good at all, and suddenly Saria didn't seem that important. All his attention was focused upon the little fairie on his bare chest who was crying her eyes out and blaming something she felt on herself, why she did that stupefied Link.

"S-since after the Deku Tree. I have internal conflicts to let it go, b-but I can't. I'm sorry Link, if you want another partner fairie I'll unders--" She stopped in the middle of her tracks, feeling the pressure of his lips upon hers, something she had never felt in this way, this situation. Staring up in utter shock, his cheeks and hers were both run with blood, staring down at her with the lips puckered across her own. It lasted a good ways, both of them enjoying the kisses in some way or manner. Link enjoying it for what it was--not sure of his emotions to Navi, but sure that he did love her some way or another, in some shape or form. While Navi was in pure joy, enjoying the love she was receiving from her friend, hoping it just wasn't a guilt trip or something to make her feel better.

Each of them kept the kiss on for the next five minutes, whenever one would pull away--the other would push them back with utter force. This just wasn't on Navi's part either, the first time had been Link who tried to pull back for air, but she pointed to his nose and yanked him back into the awkward smooth. Sure it was awkward, just look at her size, her race, her personality--they were all clashed with Link in some shape or form, of course Navi's attitude had changed on battle ever since she had been with the boy. Mostly it was the size that mattered, more than the race than anything else, she was only barely the size of his middle finger, so he had to pucker his lips small and she had to pucker wide to get the right movement.

With such a movement from both of them, they both broke the kiss at the same time (with no resistance to hold them back, they soon parted lips), and stared at each other in different directions. For Link it was the best kiss he had ever received, rivaling with Saria's, for this kiss was not a flirt, this kiss was not a taunt, this kiss was true love--which frightened the boy. If it was true love, there was no way he could dismiss it off as some stupid crush on the hero, like Ruto seemed to have, or something else. Licking his lips where her lips had been, tasting her upon him, he stared down at the ground, beginning to speak with such movements.

"Why would I replace you?"

"Because Deku said not to love you." When she pulled back from the kiss, she saw the innocence broken upon the boy, assisting her for doing such a stupid deep. The small imp had been winded from the Deku battle and had hidden inside the hat, so according to her this was the first time that he ever received a love-kiss from anyone, maybe one day he'd tell her about that more intensifying kiss. Looking over to the boy, she answered his question with full honesty, that is what the tree had said, yes, but she regretted to mention she didn't listen to things that died. Things that had no say-so in their lives, things that didn't know the emotion--the passion that she felt during that brief kiss that only seemed like seconds. A passionate swab so perfect that he left her aching for a rematch, this time with a little more than just lips.

"Great Deku said that, Eh?"

"Link we should figure this out afterwards?"

"Yea, we really should. I appreciate your forwardness about me getting rid of you, but you honestly think I could replace you so easily? Nah, I didn't think so, now let's get some sleep and in a few days, after we're done with this mess in Hyrule we will figure this out, and don't worry, I won't dismiss you just because of your race." Slipping off down into the covers, Navi couldn't help but let out a small moan of pleasure, going under the covers with him, just as the evening lights were being lowered. That night he slept so comfortably with her friend, not sure of their destinies together, but sure it would be nice, since he didn't care about her size. Those other girls didn't matter at all, the Hylians and Ruto; the only one that proved a bad cause was a Saria. It was so bad that she happened to like Saria the best out of them, but since nothing had happened between the two of them, she thought that maybe it was just a simple crush that would go away.

Following him into dreamland, the same maiden servants who came back to tend to them the two nights before adjoined the duo. Now, however, his tunic was stripped while he was bathed and mended with matching cloth materials to look as good as new, trying to get all the blackened marks off the stupid thing. When the Zorians were done, the two were put in the same clean clothes as before, his weapons getting the cuts and smells off of them, his shoes and everything else upon his body given a good scrub down. As one o'clock approached they were done, leaving the boy with some soup in his tummy, a tonic that would help restore a little of his energy for tomorrow, and the rest of his body and mind secured. Even though nothing was used on him that night, the two still didn't dream anything bad.

A following morning they received some sort of fruit that was sealed up in their bags for safe-keeping, this way, the king said that the fruit would stay fresh inside a concealed area. Given a nice farewell, the duo set off alone with the third spiritual stone in hand, ready for anything that came their way. Zora's domain was a great deal easier this time, as they were sunk in the river and road down the stream at a riveting forty miles per hour, reaching the end of the domain in only two hours. With that save in time, the boy was overjoyed to be getting back to the closer, the faster they went on, the faster they went home to talk about this new problem that occurred.

Traveling outside of the arena, the boy had promised Saria a visit, but called at her with his ocarina and explained they would go and give the princess her three spiritual powers, then visit her. Saria didn't seem to mind in the least, only giving a little whine in her voice and announcing that when he got back they were going to play twice as much. With a small laugh, he agreed and shut off his connection with the beautiful forest maiden. No talk of the kiss was occurred as they walked past the Zora's river, passing by the alleged Kakariko Village, not giving a stop and continuing on. It was like there was time for that; they could wait until after the quest was complete, the hard part was over, but not the quest.

Two days of extra trudging was what caused him to get back to the castle further than he actually expected, yet he was met with a surprise that would haunt him for years. It was just passing midnight when they came upon the gates of the castle, about to camp down by the water (for Stalchildren hated water) when the large gates of the place opened up for him. A welcoming entrance was his first thought as thunder clouds began to form above where he stood, right infront of the castle, dripping rain down all over the scene. That scene was what made him feel all the more uncomfortable about it, it was as if he remember this from a past life or something, but he didn't believe in reincarnation.

"Navi what is this--" A neigh broke his call off, gasping as from the gates exploded a large white horses--matching in size to the ones as Lon Lon. The mare was headed right for him, so he dodged to the right, barely missing from being crushed. Leaping up, he looked over his shoulder only to see the royal insignia of the Triforce placed upon the horse, it wearing all the bearings of a steed. What was more confusing was the master of the horse wore a fashion to somewhat of Impa, not it was Impa! At her side was the little princess Zelda, a concerned look plastered upon her face. Staring back at her, she reached forward and threw something forward, Link to blind by the lightning to see what it was and where it went.

Suddenly, he knew. "My dream! It's my dream!" Gasping, the whinny of another horse caused him to spin around, only to find him staring at a contrast of the beast from before. Sure this one had the trimmings of a beast, but another insignia rode upon it, one that had the swirls of the desert. The horse was also black all over, where the other one had blue eyes; this one shone a lunar yellow. Gulping loudly, he stared up at the master, and gazing upward he didn't even need to guess who the driver of the steed was. It was as if he knew, feeling the trembling Navi at his side, all the heroism they had felt before was dissipated.

The man everyone cursed, the one man that made Link gnashes his teeth with bitter hate: Ganondorf. Yes, Ganondorf Dragmire rode upon the horse, that sword from Link's dream was stretched in his hand, those matching yellow eyes of the horse gazing out towards the sunset, not being able to catch wind of the princess and her attendant. Hearing a loud curse in the Hylian language, the man looked down at the boy--surprised that something so small and weak was out during this time of the day, but Th a grin, he looked down at the boy and spoke a deep and booming voice.

"You there…boy! I am sure you've seen a white mare with a bitch upon it, around here. Now tell me where it went." When the child didn't reply, he pushed his sword into the larger sheath placed on his back, the sword itself enough to knock his own blocked up dagger. How did this boy dare not speak, was he mute? Asking the repeated question, the boy stood frozen with fear, a little question that Ganondorf enjoyed, but the annoyance of this pest was getting upon his nerves. Growling loudly, the Gerudo slammed a fist upon his steed--that whinnied loudly, but dare not run or buck its master off. That was only punishable by death, even though it was an animal, it feared him.

"Boy, I am going to ask you one last time! Where is that horse!"

"I-I'm not telling you, G-Ganondorf." Reaching behind his back, he pulled free the Kokiiri Sword, readying it for an assault on the man--it had come up to this. Except for the change of shield on the boy, this was the exact same dream, so recalling it, he was sad to say he feared the same ending was coming forth. Yet instead of shooting the boy, the man took a good look at the boy, beginning to bellow with laughter. Sure his voice wasn't as deep as the great Daruina's, or the Deku Tree's, it rivaled those Hylians and surely made the boy weak in the knees, his guardian floating above him, but all the while silent.

"Hey-- you're the child from the garden, aren't you? Defending them, I see. Hrm, I like you, you have spunk. Spunk is a good thing in this world--as long as you can back it up! Can you back it up, boy!" Throwing his cape back, which Link hadn't noticed before, over his shoulder, the man reached out a palmed hand and aimed it towards the boy. Maybe it was the destiny of the fate that made the boy stand still, the wading of the nightly storm, or his feet were simply stuck in the mud? No, it was that the paralyzing gaze of the evil king of thieves was pierced upon him that made him forget who he was, where he was, all he saw was the cupped palm. Navi was also paralyzed when she looked, at first trying to break the boy free from it, utterly failing, and soon falling into it herself.

"Addictive, isn't it. Boy, you will pay for your crimes, for I shall soon be king!" Ki began to form around her palms, but not the beautiful colours that Link or Navi would disrupt. Ugly colours consisting of yellow, orange, and black, the Hallows Eve colours. That palmed glove formed more than Link would ever imagine, or so he thought, so when the beam hit the boy, his sword tried to deflect the energy like a baseball, having the sword become a little bit more dense. A normal sword would have disintegrated, but this was the sword of Farore, so it remained intact.

Straying from the wimp's smoking remains, the man let out a long gale of laughter. "Alive, I see. Well, you are indeed special. Consider this a gift from me to you, which wasn't even a fourth of my power. Next time we meet, you shallot' be so lucky!" Kicking his heels into the steed's sides, the horse let out a long yelp of pain, following out in a general direction that the mare went, searching for it. For that thing the small bitch had was what he needed--what he strive for, if her were to gain the power of the Gods, something he had strive for as a child. Leaving the child might prove lucky in his hands; he felt a certain aura that might cause a minor problem in the future, not that he cared.

As soon as the man was gone, over the horizon, it was as if a spell had been lifted from the land, for when he left the storm brewed on a simple five seconds and disappeared along with the clouds, letting off only the moonlight shine down at the boy. Navi was at his side, pushing and slapping upon his body, trying to get him away, crying out for any help at all. The gates were still down, but no one was coming, staring at his remains, she began to sob. It had happened, what she feared all this time, he had died. She knew it was coming, why hadn't she, they had been unprepared for that stupid bastard and now he had taken this young life.

Navi wasn't a medical technician, for with a simple examination would have revealed that Ganondorf hadn't been lying, he had went extremely easy on the boy, only unleashing a load of pain. Swallowing his guilt, the boy crawled over to the edge of the fountain, staring down at the waters as he did, looking at something that had caught his eyes. Pulling himself up on his arms, he stared over at the hysterical Navi, giving a little sigh of dissatisfaction, calling her name out blandly. He ached all over, yes, but he would live, a huge hole was no in the place where the center of his tunic was. The sword was a few yards away, a little messed up, but overall all right.

"Link! Y-your alright!" Running a quick check over her body, she buried her face deep into his chest, nuzzling with relief, he was okay! Oh, thank the Goddess' he had been spared from that evil, that the dream that she had had with him was not a reality, only a something that could have been. Looking at his drawn face, which was pointed down towards the moat, she looked over his shoulder and stared down at something hidden within the water. Maybe the thing the princess threw? Of course it was, and soon she went down in the water alone, picking up the semi-heavy object, lugging it back up to the boy.

"N-Navi, is that what I thin--"

"The Ocarina of Time. Oh my, Link, Zelda must have thrown it, but why?" Her question was answered when they both received a daydream, something that really wasn't done much in this world, and maybe it was considered just a dream since it was still around midnight. Not even asleep, the two could see the room that they had been in before: the Temple of Time, a room so beautiful it was beyond vast words. In the dream it was the middle of the night, moonlight shining through the room and reflecting off the beautiful pictures of the Triforce.

_----------------------_

Seated before the alter Navi had read before was the majestic princess Zelda. She was knelt in prayer, the ocarina placed before her arms, holding it up on the altar and chanting briefly. Still dressed in the royal attire and hat, she looked just as lovely as ever, but her face was drawn down in a frown, as if she knew that something was about to happen. A bad something that just couldn't be helped--it was hated by all, but accepted by everyone else. Suddenly, he eyes opened wide, staring down into the portal they saw the dream, and she spoke to them, as if she knew they were spying upon her prayers.

"Link, as you can see, this message is concealed to you and your fairie. I have incased the ocarina to you for it has been too long of a wait, now I don't blame you, I am sure you've done all you could. Now if you have all three of the spiritual stones, I want you to go to the Temple of Time. When there, I want you to use this ocarina to play a song, the most powerful of the royal family's songs: the Song of Time. Playing that song will open that wall in the room, the Door of Time, and lead you onto your destiny. Please do this, as a last request, and I am sorry we couldn't meet one last time, I loved our time together, and maybe one day we can see each other again." She pulled the ocarina to her lips, beginning to play the tune of the time. The tune was a sad melody, that gave you the feeling of remembrance, but nevertheless it was a beautiful tune to know, and easy to remember. Zelda played the tune twice for Link, knowing that it took longer to learn if you weren't some sort of musical genius.

Suddenly the dream was gone, he with the notes simplified in his head, the ocarina in hand. Grabbing the paper from his satchel that had the other notes on it, he wrote down the tune of time, marking it as the 'Song of Time.' Pressing the ocarina up to his lips, the boy battled with the semi-difficult song for the remainder of the hour, until he finally had it set inside of his head. Placing his notepaper around, he stared over at the bitter Navi, smiling sweetly at her and slumping his shoulders sadly. Truth was, their journey may not have been over, she had said that it led to their destiny, but what exactly was that? He surely didn't know, but curiosity was killing him to find out just what it was.

"You want to go?"

"We don't have a choice, Link."

"Our talk may have to wait."

"I'm alright with that, let's just do what we can to help." Smiling sincerely, he retrieved his sword and placed it back up, holding the Ocarina of Time in his hand. Standing himself up, he wobbled along from the dizziness of the energy shock, knocking it back and strode down the drawbridge. Running throughout the midnight streets of the Town Market, he easily dodged the lone guard that would have sent him back to bed, but he wasn't headed for the castle, his mission this time was to infiltrate the Temple of Time. That was a bad word, for the place wasn't even guarded, only those stupid Gossip stones were in the way, and a few small terriers roamed around with friendly invite.

Ignoring them as best he could, which was hard for their cute furry bodies but the boy finally slipped past them and inside the unlocked Temple of Time. This place had been built thousands of years ago, to hole up some sort of Sacred Realm, he didn't know too much about it, since he lacked in that study in history. Anyway, seven people had barricaded it up so just no one could retrieve the Sacred Realm and wish for something, they had to do something special, which also had slipped his mind. Stepping inside the Temple of Time, his awe was overcome with greatness, the church was definitely a place were people had come to worship the Goddess' sometimes, yet is did have other uses, some of which made no sense to him.

His footfalls were spread hollowly as they walked over that huge little insignia trapped in the Triforce he had seen earlier, then stepping over that he looked upon the inscription that Navi had read all that lone ago. He inscription that read one with the three stones of elements would be able to open the door of time and reach his destiny. Grinning sadly, the boy pulled out the three stones placing them in the order that he retrieved them from the left and onward. Forest emerald was first, the fire ruby, and then the water sapphire concluded the final intrusion of the hollow spaces. Obviously he did it right, for a cracking sound came about, the spaces locking down into the altar.

"Link, the door…" Pointing at the seemingly unbreakable Door of Time, it was beginning to move back from its hinges, and this continued on until finally it came to a rest opening all the way. A brightness shone in the room, the duo staring up and finding that the Triforce symbol at the top of the room that had been a dull gray, was now a bursting golden yellow, shining as brightly as the sun. Giggling, the boy patted the stones one last time, as if saying a goodbye to his special treasures, and ran up the three stairs that changed the floor from hard rock to a soft marble. Rolling along the marble briskly, he ran into the less darkened room inside the door.

"…Navi, what is that?" The new room held windows that shone in seven different directions, each held out a beam of moonlight that reflected upon the inhabitants of this room. From what Link could see it was as bigger walk-up platform, and studying each insignia in the octagon that went around, he saw that each held an insignia he had seen before. Noticing the Kokiiri, Goron, and Zora one, the other three dazzled him, for they were ones he hadn't seen before. Yet, in the center of the platform was all the attention, it was where a small pedestal stood, housing a sword.

"T-t-that's the Master Sword!"

"Master Sword? I've never heard of that."

"The sword of Evil's Bane, it is said to perish all of evil. You see your sword was made by Farore, and I am sure Din and Naryu weapons belong to other races, but this sword was crafted with the powers of all three of them. It is three times as powerful as your sword! Oh, my Goddess, you couldn't be…could you?"

"Could I what?" Greater than my sword? Looks kind of big. Indeed the blade was that meant for an adult, so now he had to deal with an adult shield, but an adult sword? He didn't like the sound of it, but maybe if the sword was so magical it could revert down to his size. Studying the long sword, he gave a little sigh of content, it had a blue hilt with the sides that sprung out like a hawk, reaching in the right and left directions. Upon the top of the hilt was a glowing yellow jewel, it didn't seem to be activated, but held a tremendous amount of power. From what he could see of the blade itself, that it's power did seem more than his blade; the steel seemed stainless, as the eye could be deep runics places on the sword in a language not known to him.

"You could be the Hero of Time!"

"Hero of Time, what's that?"

"A hero. This sword is stuck inside the Pedestal of Time. If you can pull it out, then you are the hero. If you are the legendary Hero of Time you will wield the Master Sword and protect the Sacred Realm from the clutches of evil, a.k.a. Ganon." How could he be the Hero of Time, she had always read that it would be some brute Hylian, it never crossed her mind that a Kokiiri would become it. Who wrote those legends, the Hylians did, they were just presuming it would be a Hylian while the other races presumed it would be one of theirs. How ironic that a child would become something that they so trained their whole life to be, which is if he can lift it.

"Go ahead Link, pull on it."

"Will it hurt if I can't?"

"Of course not, you just won't be able to yank it out, if you are the Hero then you will be able to pull it out with both hands, easily." A Hylian would be able to pull it out for two hands, but he didn't want to risk Link any further injury.

"Alright, I am trusting you." Walking upon the little pedestal, that could 't have been less than a foot high, the boy spread his feet and placed his hand upon the hilt of the blade. Whatever happens, happens… Without further ado, the boy let out all of his strength, pulling upon the hilt as hard as it could, with all his might. To both of their jovial astonishment, the blade actually slid out of the slot, but something happened that both of them were not guessing on. A blue light surrounded the two of them, an ominous, but gentle light surrounded the boy and his fairie. Having the sword in one hand, he tried to swing at the light, yet it overtook him and his guardian in a quick second, sending down into the bowels of nowhere, wherever the energy led, was where they were taken.

_--------------------_

_Sparing the young child was exactly that had been his plan from the beginning. Generosity wasn't one of Ganon's strong suits, but ever since he had seen the boy through the Dodongo Cavern, he knew he would be a worthy adversary. Yes, Ganondorf had been tracking the duo as they made their way from the forest, traveled through Kakariko and over ruled the triumphs at the Cavern, that had astonished Ganondorf on how a child so young could take out a beast something so powerful. It was even more spectacular inside of that damned fish, how he took care of the entire place in less than two days. How strong this boy would be wasn't the only reason, the best reason is what he left behind. _

_To trail the boy he had sent out a chameleon with enchanted vision powers, a more advanced power he had rewarded the Dodongo King. This way that thing could hide with its colour changing mechanisms, but still send shots back to the Ganon within his quarters with the king. It was quite fun watching some of the battles from the boy, testing his own powers, knowing he could defeat the child, bit making himself reassured of himself. The blast he gave the boy was just a stunning power--something to tide him over for disobeying him (but what did he expect?) That had been so the child could open up what he so seeded. _

_Getting the stones just hadn't worked for him, he wasn't a people person, as some would say. That was when he decided to entrust the private mission in the boy, letting him get all of the jewels. Ganondorf had planned on getting the ocarina and then meeting Link on the way to the princess, killing him, but his arrogance had sent him in an angry rage against the child, who had fled with her attendant. Now he was all alone, and watched silently as the boy yanked the hilt from the sword, and within a smoke and a flash his vision was gone from all the world, giving him such bad-luck he had to travel down to see what happened. _

_The best luck that happened next, the boy wasn't anywhere to be seen that dreaded sword was also gone. Did this mean that he had his wish, was the God's power his? Yes, that was the truth, the boy had been obliterated by the Triforces' powers, and now they were his. Standing within the glory of the room, he crossed those arms around the muscled chest, giving out a long grin of satisfaction, with nothing spilt on his side, and all he had to thank was a stupid little boy. That boy must have regretted betraying Ganondorf, for soon they all would, for with this power he wouldn't become God, but the king of the world! _


	14. Epilogue: The Dream has Ended

-1

Epilogue: The Dream Has Ended

Copyright: I do not own Zelda, Nintendo does. Story by Habuki Productions.

A malicious evil was going to overwhelm the earth; this evil would come from the west, deep inside where the sun shone itself out. This evil would be unpredictable, it would also be unstoppable, and no matter how hard the people tried, it just wouldn't be stopped. The man's evil was from that of the sacred triangles; he would get his hands upon one of the select triangles and gain the power of the Gods. There would be no stopping this man; the people's armour and blades were defenseless against the new magic that had tried to decimate it. Other magic would just negate when show in the power of the sorcerer's, though there was still a small chance that the future would be bright.

This glimmer of hope came from that in the form of a man, a man that possessed the blade of Evil's Bane, a powerful tool required to win. A hero he would be called, this hero would have with him an instrument able to control the flow of time, and that his name would be the Hero of Time. The Goddesses had predicted that the Hero of Time would descend down from the lush forest and take the power to kill the evil. The power would be in the form of that special sword that had been crafted from the ancient all those thousands and thousands of years ago. Their only purpose for crafting the weapon was so the majestic sword of greatness would divert the prophecy, when it came true.

It seemed that this hero's blade was that of a long sword, it was crafted so beautifully with the silver gleam that shone off of it in the morning sun. This holy sword, rivaling that of Excalibur from the old Arthurian legends, would possess the power to once and for all banish any sort of evil that existed. Not only this power from the blade was not just in sword-skill; it could also borrow the power from the Goddesses and punish anyone with evil in their heart. Smothering that evil, the sword could literally slice them in half in only an instant though only condensed to the form of a Hylian man's. The ancient Hylians constructed it, so in a sense, it was thought that the Hero of Time would be that of Hylian descent--it seemed the will might be true.

A sword of this beauty was never shown the sun, because it simply was too hazardous to keep in the hands of those that could use it for evil purposes. The power was able to banish good, though it was constructed in such a way that anyone could handle it with the ease of manipulation from the current user. There was no way the ancients were going to let such a destructible weapon fall into the hands of evil, so it was covered in rosary and a spell was casts. The enchanting bondmen pushed the sword down into a slab of rock, just like the old legends of Excalibur, and stated that only the purest of heart could pull it out, the slab called the Pedestal of Time. Also, to further the fact that an evil mage couldn't break the rosary, it was sealed inside the ancient Temple of light, and the sword was sealed between a thick wall and another spell.

This new enchantment stated that there were three pieces of a puzzle that were needed, plus two more that were required from the ancients. The first three were magical stones, each that had been created by the Goddesses, one for each race that the selected Goddess protected. The forest children were given the Emerald of Farore, the Golems of the north were given the ruby of Din, and mermaids of the east were given the Sapphire of Naryu. Each were selective races and when those three were gathered, the last two came from the Hylians, they were a sacred ocarina called the Ocarina of Time, and a tune. This tune would be that called the Song of Time and with that played, the user holding the three jewels, only then would the wall, later called the Door of Time, be opened.

The Door of Time was not only used to conceal the Master Sword, what the ancients called it, since they decided that only one master would be decided for the sword, they also sealed the Sacred Realm in there. Before the Door of Time was made, the temple was sealed off even from the ancients themselves, because the entire purpose of the temple was to guard the Sacred Realm--a place where the Triforce rested. When the wall was erected, several of the best wizards in Hyrule pushed the Sacred Realm back where the Door of Time and the Master Sword rested. Sealed up, this meant that the public was free to roam inside of this entire temple, save for the sacred Door of Time, which was inoperable, and worship. So the entire establishment was transformed into a beautiful church, somewhere that people all over could go too and worship the ancient sages, and even the Goddesses themselves.

That was how it went for as long as anyone could remember, the ancients had predicted that prophecy so long ago, that when they passed on it was forgotten. Sure, it had been hung up in the temple, but after the misfit guidance of the new leaders, taken down for fear that people wouldn't come to the church. Before long the church had turned into scandal, and even had attempted breaks at the Sacred Realm, none ever coming close enough to cause it. And even if they would, there was no way to get inside the Sacred Realm without moving the Master Sword, it had been crafted as some sort of key. It was, in a sense, a door to the realm of the gods and when it was pushed aside, only then could someone go inside and venture the Triforce's powers.

Soon it was forgotten about the scandals, the church returned to a holy place, since the criminals realized there even with the jewels, song and ocarina there was no way to get to the realm. Still, others tried and formed from their un-attempted reaches were a board of elders, some of the ancient's offspring that retained their wisdom. These people of Hyrule, they called themselves a board, though it was later on adopted into that of a Kingdom, the entire place where the Hylians lived was. A Kingdom was adopted because the people had no leadership; the oldest of the elders was appointed a king and the rest were made in as royal advisors. It worked, for the most part, because the Royal Family was assigned the privilege to hold and secure the Tune of the Royal Family, which soon generations later forgot and also to keep the Ocarina of Time safe.

It proved hard, because more and more bandits from other races came and the Hylians were proved the second-weakest race, right before the Forest Children. Though they were the wisest and the best at crafting tools, which seemed to be the purpose at why the Gods had chosen them over the other races. The Goddess's' children as they were sometimes called, and with the advisory of the newfound board, there was selected guardians for these people. Perhaps considered the most powerful, though the gentlest of the races, the Shiekah were entitled the gift of protecting the entire Royal Family. Of course many gave their lives to fulfill these duties, they took mostly pride in protecting the family, since they were one of the closest races to the Hylians. It worked out, since none of the Shiekah (they were very limited in number) turned against the family and any other race hardly stood a chance.

All was fine and at peace until a new race came upon the scene, they hailed from the west just as the legends had predicted (though at this time the scrolls were either hidden or lost) and had brought with them a lot of complications. A race full of women, they appointed a leader every hundred years, the only male that was allowed to live, and that male ran until he reached the ripe age of one-hundred. Somehow they had received the gift of longevity, which allowed some to go on as much as two hundred, even three hundred years if they were lucky. The warrior women were untrustworthy and at times a bit of a hassle, since they moved upon the Hylian men to breed with, since they looked so much alike. The only difference were that some of them had longer noses, darker skin, and yellowish eyes, which seemed to be the eeriest thing of all. That wasn't the worst part, was that the people of this land, later taken on by the Hylian country, this Gerudo wanted to be the rulers, and so started a war.

The war was only eighty years before the present time, so it stayed long in every one's mind, so everyone remembered that the cause of the time were the Gerudos. They had been initiated into Hyrule for about fifty years when the current leader had died and within twenty years a new one was about, a cockier one. This man, his name was never really known, had wanted more power, so he had scandalized with all the races about rumors about one another. He had lied and manipulated the people, never really fighting on their side, but getting them to attack one another until a full-blown war had been started. Each race seemed to have a grudge against the each other, except the Forest children and their sacred tree that had recently seen the tensions and sealed up the forest, making attacking them inevitable.

Each one was attacking each other, except the Gerudo, which had seemed nothing but a small little threat, that were the newcomers and thought to be undermined. That happened as each race sliced at each other's throats, the Golems against the Mermaids, the Mermaids against the Hylians, and the Hylians against the Golems. The only race, aside the Kokiiri and Gerudo, that formed alliances with one another were the Shiekah, they remained loyal to their races and fought in the Hylian army. As a result, in the current state of time, there were none of them, save except four or five of the Shiekah left, the majority of them were wiped out. Not that they didn't go out with a fight, many bravely died for the Hylians and were honored greatly for their efforts, relived as a true race, those Shadow People.

As the third year of the war passed on, it was realized among some of the races that the Gerudo had stated these facts about them, then they compared. A cease-fire was initiated for about three months when the leader of the Golem, the Mermaid King, and the Hylian King met in the center of the Hyrule Field. Each of them discussed the propaganda that had been established since the time that the fighting had started almost four-year prior. As the conference lasted more than three months, another treaty was established, and by the time the four-year had started, the conference was over. Though there was something different in the air, the alliances had been made between the Fire, Water and Light races of the world to protect one another, their enemy: The Gerudo.

The Hylians had found out that the Gerudo had started their rumors, as had the other races, so the sights were set upon eliminating the Gerudo. That was the only objective left, the biggest threat was the un-named leader, he needed to be thrown off his position of power, of the world would be in terror. The monsters were large, but with the combined forces of the peoples of Hyrule, the new country simply didn't stand that much of a chance. Each race, except the neutral Kokiiri, were called in great numbers as soldiers, citizens, even the leaders themselves participated in the war to stop the dreaded monsters from the desert. There was little effort to stop them as they passed deep into the Gerudo Valley and almost six months after the time the conference ended, they took over the Gerudo land and killed the dreaded King.

It seemed grim between the nations, though peace was established that after a few years of negotiations--without the Gerudo King, the forces soon fell, leaving many Gerudo alive. Even though the Gerudo were the enemies of all the nations, they were a part of Hyrule, some wanted them annexed from the country, though the Hylian King wouldn't see it. Nor would any of the others, and the Gerudos were left as they were, it was just they weren't appointed a king, since their religion didn't permit a king to be appointed, it had to be born. At all the future meetings between the people, a main woman represented them; she was called the Temporary King, until the next was born. This wouldn't be long, not at all, for soon there was a boy born from that of a woman and a Hylian, his skin darker than the rest of them, some thinking he was born of a dragon--and his name was Ganondorf.

This child of the Gerudo didn't come until a long time, about thirty years prior to the normal time, though he was a different child, better than the others were. Excelled where most Gerudo wouldn't hope to achieve, he was one of the firsts that inherited the ability to perform the magical arts. When the women bred with the Hylian men, usually the magical affect was shot out because magic was a submissive gene. It didn't make sense to some, but to others he was thought of as a god, maybe a man who would lead the land of Hyrule into an age of supremacy. The last hundred or so years after the war had been true, they had excelled, maybe the Triforce could be uncovered and grand complete happiness?

_-----------------------------_

It seemed so ironic that thirty years after he was born that the man had been spared, he hadn't suffered the war, though he was the consequence. If the monsters had simply been killed off so long ago then there wouldn't have been a problem in this world, the evil would cease to exist. He thought about this as he peered around the corner and saw that the dust had disappeared, the light blue colour had also disintegrated. In its place, he saw that the Pedestal of Time was there, though the final key that had restricted him back all these years was no longer in place. Ganondorf couldn't help but laugh; the boy had been either sucked up in the Sacred Realm, or shocked to death for angering the sword, leaving the Sacred Realm open just for him.

_Its so sad, he won't be here to watch me triumph. _And the best part was there were no more distractions, no monsters in the Sacred Realm that protected the Triforce from anyone else. It had all disappeared; those stupid ancients had been so misguided, that they had forgotten to set anything inside of this place, a guard or a monster. He really could have used the challenge, he knew after this, there would no one else, there wouldn't be a person that could match his power, nor his skill. Not that anyone could of before, he had ranked above all the limits in tournaments held by all of Hyrule, fighting tournaments, and had decimated that young boy. He hadn't killed him, he needed the kid because he liked to toy with people, and now the child was gone, which disappointed him, he wanted the little brat to grow up and try to face him in combat.

Of course there was still a chance, that small little percentage that no one thought about, that the boy could be the one, the Hero of Time. A Hero of Legends that would claim that sword and cut him down as soon as their powers melted together, they would face and the boy would win. As preposterous as it sounded, he couldn't help think about it, the destiny so far had come true and was about too come about and be received. His conscious, or what was left of it, showed him that the consequences for letting the boy live could have been vile, and now he wasn't too know what exactly happened too him. Being here on those fake peace conferences had just been a trap, though that little wench had gone about and spoiled it, the King already had his head.

He thought about it as he walked towards the opening door, the slit where the Master Sword had rested was a portal, it was glimmering white and just inviting him inward, though he still thought. That little bitch, the surprise attack was now ruined, the King was probably gathering up his armies as they spoke, and he knew whose fault it was, that princess. From the start, he knew that stuck-up brat hadn't believed a word he said, she could sense it in her tone and just the rude snootiness she gave him. Of course he had brushed it off and even had considered her jealous, but that was before last night, she had approached her father while the peace talks were underway, showing him the proof. He had no idea where she got it, though what she held in her hand was a slip of paper, the submission that the peace talks were not valid, there had never been anything signed.

Even Zelda's father hadn't believed her at first, he muttered as he walked forward, slipping past those wonderful jewels from the races he had tortured, then stepped inside of her, thinking about the end results. Of course, at first the King was laughing and thinking she was jealous, but it was a few hours later that the talks had ended for the night that he took real looks at it. Signed upon with the real Hylian signature, there was no way to duplicate it, it was sealed as though the proof itself had been startled about. That was when uproar began, he ordered and rushed to the place to explain his reasons for this, the treasonous ones that seemed so invalid. Ganondorf had been prepared for the worst, so he explained in calm words that his government was slow and simply the right procedures had not been received, knowing full well the King wouldn't accept it.

Of course they weren't, the man didn't declare war upon the Gerudo, though from his actions he just might as well have, the man was kicked from the palace. Though he would show them, he grinned a little as his steps stride forwards towards where the portal was engulfing itself open, looking precious. Just like a woman's wound, he grinned a bit, and nodded, and between that was the motherland of all treasures, the Triforce was awaiting his arrival. He knew deep in his mind that the one to pay that most when he became King of the World would not be the King, though surely he would kill him. Who would suffer and beg for mercy the most would be that little princess, though she was no where to be found, she had disappeared on horseback, he knew she was gone before the race began--her horse was just too fast.

_Not that it matters, soon I will be able to track down that pathetic girl and her nursemaid, and the two of them will pay dearly for their lives_, his voice screamed out. Of course he was just thinking it, but somehow it was like the beneficial factors of his mind had created shock waves with that brain of his. It wouldn't surprise him; he had always been smart, though now thinking was not upon him, he felt that the rims of the Sacred Realm were opening. Opening an entrance for him, the neutrality of the Triforce would be the downfall for all of Hyrule, the manipulative power was just too good too be true. Though he believed the legends, especially as they were living infront of him now, and the least thing he was worried about now was being wrong. The idea of being wrong now was not simply an answer, the portal showing a golden white worry about as the Triforce was sealed deep in the back, he stepped inside knowing the legends were true, they just had to be.

_-----------------------------_

"It seems that the realm legends are as true as they proclaim!" A triumphant Ganondorf yelled out, he was standing in the room, the bright white room where there seemed to be nothing around for him. His claims were not in vain, the legends of the beautiful three triangles were real, they were because he could sense it upon the air. Not just that, there was this feeling of warmth, an eternal power that made the gooseflesh upon you is skin break out, the presence of a God. Well, there was something, though it had breached at the very end of the room, a small speck, though a great distance from the way he looked upon it. Circulated, unguarded from anyone in the world was simply three triangles; each of them connected at the right, left and bottom sides of them, forming the Triforce.

It was almost too good to be true, he smiled as those footfalls reached forward, the sudden echo of them making him stop in his tracks and look around. Behind him was the slim portal, just the size of his muscular frame, which led out towards the other room, the Door of Time and Hyrule. To his left and right were nothing but empty white space, it seemed you could walk forever and never reach the end of this seemingly huge maze. It would of all been stupid, if not he had looked north and saw what was awaiting him, it growing smaller as he took larger steps forward. Those sacred triangles and the portal were the only two visible things; the Sacred Realm seemed to be an uncharted place, another world in itself, just unshaped.

As when this world was taken, Hyrule, he might create another world, he thought as he took out from the walk and increased to a fast job. His new world would be a glorious land, where he would only allow species of his into there, the others would rot inside of this ridiculous Hyrule. He had no love for this country, and knew when he was ruler that the land would rot, all of it, except the Gerudo Valley and beyond, that was his homeland. Ganondorf had no love, though he seemed too for his home-land and since they had been treated so badly, he was going to make it up to them as best as he could, after all he was their King first. Closer and closer he came towards the triangles, they already stretching towards forty feet tall, when he broke out into a huge run.

His pace kept up until he was running with all his might; the beautiful triangles had finally come within a few feet, when he halted himself. Not even wanting to touch, afraid he might harm it, a hand came a few inches from it and abruptly stopped when the triangles began to glow brightly. Savoring the sweet feeling that overcame him, he could say that this lust was better than any sex that he had ever experienced. The flow of his orgasm was almost apparent, he knew in the back of his mind that he was getting turned on the sight of this, this overwhelming power. The shining of the bright gold had shined down for the last two minutes when a beautiful voice came out, it was one of the Goddesses, Ganondorf could presume, maybe even all three combined into one person.

"I am the Triforce, I am entitled to neutrality and will enlist the wish upon any person in the world, no matter what race or alignment. I know no boundaries, now tell me my child, what is you're wish?" It spoke softly as the man's fingers grazed the top of it, he had began to control himself, almost frightened when the gods began to spoke.

"My wish? Its been so long since I have been asked that, I have dreamt for this moment since I was a young child, what I could wish for. The legendary Triforce before me and now I am stalling?" He broke into a nervous laughter, Ganondorf was human after all, he was entitled to a little human emotion, and 'little' was the key word. Usually showing none, it was a different story when you were talking face to face with the most powerful being in the universe, one that could crush you like an insignificant bug.

"My child, I have seen you're past and present. I cannot predict you're future, which is for you to decide. Now tell me, what is you're wish and how will you touch the force, will you go for it whole and attempt to gain all the pieces, or simply claim one and leave the rest to others? It is claimed that taking all is unwise." It had said in the legends that the Triforce could be broken, though not even Ganondorf had read about this, though he seemed to ignore it.

"I shall have it all! I wish for Hyrule, I wish for the world of Hyrule and to be granted the King of Evil! And I want the entire power of that force!" Ignoring what the Goddess or the owner of the Triforce said, he went ahead and took a hold of the entire thing, he would claim it all for himself. Laughing maniacally, he seized a hand forward and spread both of his arms open as he literally brought the three triangles into a huge hug. His arms wrapped about the thing, he knew in his mind he was not going to let this thing go, he would cling too it for dear life, he was very power-hungry, that was evident. They shrunk down to his size, to that so that the two could fit inside of his arms; the entire forces only about four feet wide inside of his arms. It was much easier to hold it now, without the fear of being crushed if it tipped over, but before he could relish the voice began to laugh, then it happened.

Right before his eyes, the force split into three pieces, the connected triangles, seemed to stretch out away from him, except the top one that remained in his hands. Holding onto the top one, which had turned a bright crimson, he clawed for the other ones that had turned blue and green, only to see his hands easily slip through them. As the laughter went on, he watched with dreadfully as the two pieces shot forward at what seemed to be the speed of light, one of them for the portal, the other into the whiteness. The blue piece shot deep inside portal and relished back to Hyrule, while the green one circled around until a hidden portal opened, that one disappearing also. Ganondorf, to say the least, was flabbergasted as the two pieces disappeared, the final one embedding upon his left hand, the piece shining, only the top golden piece was lit.

"It was a mind full of lust and power which has caused these events. The user with the Triforce must claim the pieces for good; otherwise the pieces will be shattered. You're personality is that of the fiery Din, so you are shone down with the piece of Power! Though, you are granted you're wish, the consequence, is the piece you are rewarded is that of you're personality, now begone!" A gush of wind felt like it pushed the man forward and he was thrown backwards, trying to grip anywhere and missing, his body slamming through the portal and back into the real world.

"Damnit, damnit! Curse you Goddesses!" He spit out towards the shut portal; he had transported back into the real world only a few seconds ago and was shown that there was nothing waiting for him. Even if he somehow broke back inside of the realm, the portal entries in that dimension were phenomenal and it might cause him to search for thousands and thousands of years (somehow he knew he had immortality, maybe the Goddess has said it.) Of course not, he had screwed it up and instead of pretending that his heart was full of purity; the lust for power had taken of his body. Somehow he had lost his nerve, probably the first time he ever had, and he knew that it would be the last, there would be no more screwing up! Ganondorf couldn't even remember most of the event, all he remembered is that the woman of the Triforce had spoke that he received the piece of Din, that power.

Holding his hands forward, the man smiled as the power started to curdle inside of his hands, there seemed to be huge amounts of Ki stored inside of these hands. But when he pushed forward and slammed his hands into a nearby wall, he was astonished to see that half the wall, this beautiful indestructible wall, had been disintegrated. Something that the ancients said that not even the Triforce itself could break through, a temple used to conceal it, and he realized that with one piece he did it. If the man remembered right the other pieces were Wisdom and Courage, he had the Power, so there really wasn't anything to discuss maybe this was a good thing. Of course, locating the Princess required the Wisdom peace, though he could rule the country of Hyrule with this, he knew he could, there was no power in the world that could stop him.

"Maybe this won't be so bad, I can get out and in quickly of this temple, round up and attack." His face formed that of a smirk as he pulled the black cape he always wore around himself and spun around, feeling the familiar feel of the desert coming. He was going home and when he returned, maybe in a week or so, there would be a force so powerful that not even the King himself could laugh upon it!

_-----------------------------_

The King thought it was a joke, since the incident with Ganondorf, the castle had been on guard, though there really was nothing to worry about. He had suspected that the new King, Ganondorf, might attack the place, though with the armies from all the nations, there wasn't much chance at succeeding in the effort. It would have been a joyful display to see, if he could have shared it with his daughter, then the two could have laughed as the remaining Gerudo were dying. A meeting had been conducted a few days prior to the incident with Ganondorf and the nations of Hyrule had agreed that if the man were to attack, then the entire nation of the Gerudo would be smashed. Then there was what had happened with Zelda, he had promised that he would apologize to her for mis-reading her visions (she was probably as great as her mother was) though she was missing.

Zelda had been gone about eight days when the first sight of the Gerudo came back to the King; the leader at the front was Ganondorf. The boy had been worried ever since, he had sent out search parties, hoping that the man had not captured his daughter, though there was no evidence. No evidence claimed this, plus the fact that Impa was away, he had discovered this later one, brought him peace in his long-time Shiekah friend. She had probably foreseen the danger that might come this way and had taken her away from this mess, it was a good thing, he thought. That Kakariko Village, that was probably where she was, and so he had sent out a messenger that night, the following morning was when the forces were discovered marching towards Hyrule.

A scout had spotted them over near the newly formed Lon Lon Ranch at about 2 am that night and had rode full force upon his steed (they were moving at a slow stride) towards the castle. His admission was let in at about 7 a.m. that morning, which he raced harder through the market place, scaring many peasants, and hit the gate at about 12 p.m. that day. After being contacted in with commission board and finally allowed to see the king, the boy was exhausted, and feverishly explained the situation. There wasn't an accurate number at how many Gerudo there were in the village of the desert people, though it seemed every horse, every Gerudo and weapon were prepared. They seemed ready for battle, at the front came the man with the cape, that evil red-haired man, the boy had explained, and the King knew exactly who.

Since the King was so modest, of course the man had provided the boy a bed and food for his valiant efforts to reach the castle so quickly, promptly telling him not to worry. There really was nothing to worry about, where he had last left the Knights guarding the borders only sixty miles from Hyrule Market Castle, they would take them down. If not, then the man would simply call of the infantry and squadrons around all the borders of Hyrule, then if that didn't work, he would ask for aid from the other countries. Unbeknownst to the Gerudo, a secret alliance was between all the races, except the Kokiirish and Gerudo, which stated in case of war, that they bind together. In an all-together victory from before, there seemed to be no stopping them, that was until he received report that the knights had been slaughtered.

"What is the meaning of this!" He screamed out, the report had come about forty-eight hours after the boy messenger had arrived from the posts, that was where the battle had started and stretched towards the gates of the castle, he was speaking to a knight that had barely escaped the battle.

"Sire, there…it was Ganondorf, he had with him his troops, but they didn't attack, he attacked, with some sort of power, something our mages couldn't hope to stand up against. We tried out best, I am sorry to say that it was futile, he wiped us out with minimal effort, he just raised his right hand and the that triangle!" The man broke into hysterics, beginning to cry about the triangles, until he was pulled away by two sorrowful guards, taking him to the dungeon for a psychotic test.

_-----------------------------_

More and more reports began to flood all over the country of Hyrule; it seemed that Ganondorf had decided to save Hyrule for the last place of punishment. Maybe he was decimating the forces so that the King wasn't able to take him on, the aide that he so heavily relied on had been destroyed before his eyes. From the south, the Kokiiri (they had sent an intelligent Deku Scrub as an advisor for the first time in years) were being invaded for the first time ever. It was an astonishing trick that somehow the power of Ganondorf was able to penetrate those forbidden woods, something no one could ever had done. The power of this man had grown, everyone could foresee it, but no one really knew the extent of it when they traveled forward more and hit the Zoras.

There was barely an advisor that could have gotten out; most of the Zoras had been fried from the fire magic that escaped the triangles on the man's hand. The Zoras home had also been sealed up with a giant layer of ice, it had killed several of them, though most were left to live in the harsh winter, either to die from dry scales or simply frostbite. He had heard it from the Deku Scrub, now the Zora's were proclaiming that a sacred triangle, the same that was used to open their entrance, was being used against them. Most demanded explanations, all wanted peace, but none of them couldn't imagine the power that still leaked inside of this evil Gerudo. Then the Gorons were hit, they weren't hit as hard as the Zoras, though many had confined the mountain up and all the Gorons sealed themselves up when he hit Kakariko and the Goron City, making the place erupt, the volcano.

It was only by pure luck did anyone survive, it was stopped by a giant boulder, though not before some of the lava escaped and killed several hundreds of people in Kakariko. All that was established there would and could be repaired, it was just the damage upon the mountain was more fierce than ever. There seemed to be more eruptions than ever, most never reaching Kakariko, they usually hit the Goron City and destroyed most of the landmarks, since the Golems were hidden. The King heard that the temples, the ancient temples were beginning to open, there were monsters leaking out of them and going out for revenge, for the blood of whomever it could get. Also there were rumors about the Forest and Water temples also awakening from the Kokiiri and the Zoras, though he wasn't sure since any more messages had been sent between the two countries.

Of course the worst damage of all was created when all this was over, the entire aide that was needed by the Hylians--the people were very suspicious. All had a simple idea that the Triforce had been opened and the Sacred Realm had been taken over, all except a few strongholds that seemed to be holding this place together. Another war had broken out, this time between all the nations and the Gerudos, just like last time, except this time the results would be very different. They were very worried now, especially when they checked the Temple of Light for strange events, they found the Door of Time open, and the Master Sword gone. Mass panic began to arise, the public knew of course, many fled before the terror that's name was Ganondorf could arrive, some stayed and met the fate.

_-----------------------------_

It was just shy two months since the man had received the Triforce of Power that his regime came upon that doors of the castle during the day, only to be met by a shut door. His hands were out and it was easily blown apart, the door falling down towards the water and hitting the ground, breaking into several pieces. They were just what were needed for the horses to march into the castle, though all of the people dismounted their horses and took out the huge Arabian swords. None were needed of course, a magical and physical shield of his protected all those within a certain distance of Ganondorf. It seemed indestructible, especially when they hit inside of the town and several mages and archers wondered why the magic and arrows were of no use.

These foes were met when the man named Ganon raised his hands into the air and fired a huge shot upon them, destroying everything within a four hundred meter radius. That took most of the Castle Town Market, the knights that had displayed the efforts, and the valiant souls of the shopkeepers who wanted to be around for the Apocalypse. When the smoke cleared, there were things that were unaffected, the Temple of Time hadn't been affected because he had cleared it, he wanted to break into that Sacred Realm someday, but the rest had been hit, aside the castle, which was too far away anyway. Other places were stretched and ugly, the torn curtains, the rotten and blown sidewalks, and even a few people were around, the man ordering his girl soldiers to go to work. These men were promptly gutted and hung upon poles for displays for those who didn't obey Ganondorf, a flag was hung in the market about two hours later when all the bodies had been killed, he setting out for the palace--his new home.

It had taken a gloomy tone around the entire place of Hyrule; everyone was too preoccupied with his or her own efforts to help the poor Hylian Royal Family. The King of Hyrule was glad when the man appeared over the horizon, only two of three Gerudo women with him, the rest were busy ran-sacking and taking care of those with attitudes. The others with him held swords in their hands, the man had two sheathed swords behind his back was not in the mood to use them, he had better plans. Held between his hands was a firm ball of Ki energy, though it was not the kind had had seen during his own training in the art of controlling power. All energy was blue, even evil, though this was clearly the energy of him, though it was situated black, black and electrifying purple surrounding it.

The ball of energy was released before he was even a mile before the place, the Gerudo hanging close to him and watching with a fierce intensity at the fireworks. All the guards that were at the castle were doing was protecting the King, there had been some outside, though they had either been cut to ribbons or ran away inside the castle. He didn't blame them; the King didn't, because soon he felt the sliding of warm piss down his leg, the shiver of content that he associated with the fact that he was going to die. He knew it, there was no denying it, though he wasn't scared, and seemed even glad that it was over, the prophecies seemed to be in order. There the entire castle was thrown forward; he had been out in the front courtyard, watching the descent of Ganondorf from down a hill, the energy hitting towards him, though being shone off by the vaporizing bodies around him.

The entire place around the castle was decimated; it also seemed that the place had been changed from that of heaven, to that of hell. All of the grass was gone, in its place was rocky hard rock, several structures had been reduced to nothing, including several parts of land, and there was water in the place of that though. A complete circle around the castle was carved out, so that the castle was standing upon only a single stalk, there seemed to be no way inside of the broken structure, since none of it was left hardly anyway. The waters below had been hit by the dark energy and turned to lava; there was no long cool wet and refreshing water, but scalding magma in its place. A heavenly utopia had been transformed into a volcano, even the structure was different, the castle looked closer to the entrance now, it was like they had had an earthquake and had been moved.

Every one of his men was dead, save a few that either had no arms or legs, and was too helpless, either crying in intense pain, or simply dying of blood loss. None could protect him, though as the King watched the man close the mile into a few hundred meters, he felt no fear in him, and he felt this was destiny. The King had never believed in prophecies, his widow had been like that and as his daughter, that was safe with the Shiekah--for this he was glad. But now as he watched it, he remembered the prophecy about the evil from the west, from the desert that would put a trial upon Hyrule and its people. There was also another part about this evil losing, he hoped that the Triforce, another piece (he saw that the man only had one), fell into the hands of the hero. While he prayed this to the Goddesses, the evil man came within a few feet from him, a hand going back and telling the guards of his to wait the Gerudo.

"My dear King, what has happened?" His smile was evil, pure and simple evil as he watched the man with piss running down his royal robes, a man that was broken, he had been shattered. The castle was no more; it was not the same, there were bitter pieces left; though they would be erected by the power that was in his hands.

"You should know, you desert bastards--I should have listened to Zelda." He whispered under his breath, a gloved hand of Ganondorf's going forward and holding the man's old face up so it stared into the youthful appearance of Ganon's. Not really youthful, though the King was gray and in his fifties, while this man was in his late twenties, still in the prime of his life and with the Triforce, probably would live forever.

"Yes, you're bitchy kid was very right, I commend her on her actions, unfortunately she isn't here, she escaped my clutches, a lot smarter than you, you stupid old man. You are broken, I can tell." He smiled.

_I am broken, but I am stronger than you are, I will face death without fear, I won't fear him. _This brought a smile to his face, he looked the newly appointed King of Evil straight into the eyes and hacked back, spitting straight into his face. This was brought with a punch, the ferocity was so large that he felt several of his teeth give away and his jaw was probably broken, he falling to one knee and crying out in pain.

"That'll teach you, you fucking bitch." Ganondorf opened his hands and a towel was displayed in his hands, the handkerchief was matted by one of the female Gerudos and washed the spit from him. Within a minute, another towel came and wiped his face clean and he looked down towards the man and questioned in a curious tone. "If you can talk, tell me why you were smiling, if not, write it."

The King reached inside of his robes, Ganondorf knew his attire well, and took out some of the Royal Family Stationary (Ha, there was no more Royal family, might as well call it paper.) This is when he attained a pen from the pocket of his robes and began to write, despite the pain that was flaring deep inside of his mouth. It hurt too much to speak, even if his jaw was okay and he could formulate the words, he knew in his mind that they wouldn't come out right. He knew for sure that this was it, it was over, though he wasn't afraid, so he wrote for his heart's content as much as he could, until the page was full. When he was finished, he wrote in clear print, he tore the piece of paper off the pad, then threw the pen and pad off of the side, into the lake below.

The King knew this was it because soon the man's eyes became enflamed with anger, and he reached into his back and slid out the sword, that beautiful blade. He couldn't recognize the craftsmanship, though he knew it was a good brand, especially when the monster flew forward and aimed right for the center of his neck. It was in an instant, the shock hit so hard that the former King of Hyrule was totally unaware of what was happening, he couldn't even see anymore. His last thought had been what he wrote, about what pissed the man off so much; he had hit a tender subject and had paid for it, oh well. It beat being tortured to death, which was for sure, the man was happy with his life, and hoped that if the hero did indeed come, he would help her daughter, and then his life ended.

"That stupid moron." He grunted, a snaky tongue coming out and licking the blood upon the sword, grinning as it dripped from his lips when he slid it back into the sheath.

"What did it say, Lord Ganondorf?" Spoke the high commander of the Gerudo forces, the man turning towards her, crumbling the note up and noting her bravery, it was admirable. That wasn't what he needed in his country, a hand going forward and shooting out a deep thunderbolt that seemed to come from the many dark clouds around the castle. The bolt erupted and struck down inside the body of the poor woman, she letting out a shriek of pain before she fell upon the ground and sunk down, shivering. Again and again the bolts struck until only ashes remained, the man tearing the note up and striking one last bolt of lightning, the note being struck open. That was when a gentle breeze picked itself up and brushed the ends of the ashes and the note off the castle, never being revealed to anyone else.

"Anyone else want to know what the hell it said!" He growled out and several of the women shook their heads, the remaining bunch just shut the hell up even with movements and didn't shake or anything. That was when he smirked and nodded, that was good they were going to obey, the Gerudo were listening with his Iron Fist establishment set up, and soon all of them would. Hyrule was the capital of this nation, he had taken over it, and he had killed everyone that stood in his way, including that spunky little boy. Of course as he walked away from the structure he remembered that note, it caused a shiver to arise though his body and shaking his head softly. They had some kind of connection, his conscious told him, though that stupid little voice was pushed away, though not for long it wasn't. , There the letter was screamed out towards him, he frowning as he had to listen to the written words of the King once more in his head.

The letter was horribly written, it was just the way that it was worded that seemed to darken his worst fears all in only a few sentences. The letter, as he finally recalled the exact words, it said this, "My last will and testament shall be that since I will die, that there will be a new Kingdom set up, though this won't last long at all. It shall not last because the Evil from the West shall be defeated; this evil was there and shall remain in power for some time, until the prophecies come true. It isn't a real time limit to show when that shall come about, though I would say a decade shall pass. The Evil King of Hyrule has taken power, though he shall be called down in one battle and loses to that of a boy, I believe some young fellow. The final tool disappeared, he shall appear with this blade and conquer you, this I testify my life upon." It was horrible the way it was written, it had stirred so much anger up in the man that he had taken his full rage out, instead of enjoying picking at the man. Oh well, he would enjoy his daughter when he got his hands upon her, he smiled evilly and nodded, he would fully enjoy that young girl.

"We shall see, I will get someone to guard that temple and destroy him when it comes, and shall it be, he shall be fried upon the spot." Grinning, there was no one around so he spoke to himself, the reign of Ganondorf would forever, he would make sure of that, after all he did have immortality.

_-----------------------------_

Hyrule was basically gone when Ganondorf killed the king, plus the newfound powers didn't hurt his advantage in this little world. With the King dead, the castle was taken over in a virtual few hours, the rest of the knights and old guards were blown apart when they were found. Some hid, others went ahead and attacked, and even more sneak-attacked, and though not one injury was faced towards those of Ganondorf's troops. Unless someone pissed off the new leader of this world, a Gerudo like before, then they would meet an untimely demise based on a part of these accidents. In this land, it was named Hyrule; the capital of the land was the land of Hyrule, though the other races treated their own lands as different nations.

The Zoras, Gerudo, Kokiiri, Hylians, Gorons, and the Shiekah were the races of this land, which were five different lands for the man to take over. Since he had created distractions on his way to Hyrule Castle, when the castle was gone, there was no aid for the rest of the land against this man. The Zoras were frozen in the spot, most of them dying, though a few escaped the icy waters and lived deeper underwater, others choosing other places. The Hylians were dead, for the most part, though some evacuated to the Shiekah village of Kakariko and remained safe there, since there were no Shiekahs left, it was considered stupid to attack, they were housed up in one spot. The Gerudo, the race of the leader, were left alone while the Gorons and the Kokiiri were left alone for the most part, monsters set up in their terrorizing and terrorizing them, though never starting the extinction of any.

The only ones that were left and killed were during the war, the beginning anyway, since most considered the war still on when Ganondorf began his reign. These were the Shiekah; they had been wiped from the earth, for what the most part, to the knowledge of Ganondorf and the other races. They could be hiding, a few had been discovered a few months after Ganondorf's take-over, but they were quickly exterminated for being the biggest threats. All the other races presented no problems, with lieutenants positioned at each area, except the forest since men couldn't get inside of there, they soon submitted to rule. Those Shiekah, however, were stronger than any other race and if put together may of found a way to kill Ganondorf, so he took them out personally.

The land of Hyrule was officially taken over by Ganondorf Dragmire exactly a full year after he had received the Triforce of power; the entire land was his. The months between the killing of the King and the taking over of the empire was made scurrying and hunting down the useless Hylians and other races. Hunting down the rebellions before they had the chance to take over, plus taking the time to go through the entire land, including Lake Hylia, and taking their share of the riches. The only places they couldn't set face on was the castle, that was where Ganondorf did and ruined the land by cutting down the trees, stealing the waters of the Zoras, rubies and jewels of the Gorons, and from the Hylians, their fortunes. As these events were completed, he was officially changed from the ruler of Hyrule to the King of Evil; the nation remained named Hyrule, though most hated to say the name.

Each land was ruled by a general, this was a way so that the people were submitted to daily worshipping of their dictator, their king. Harsh punishment was put out to those who would not submit, and even some of the bigger races put together with other races and formed rebellions. Those were always silenced when a quick teleportation was made by Ganondorf (he could warp with this new power from the Triforce) and killed the perpetuators. After this happened a few times, the people began to realize just how bad it was, there would be no way to give into these weird proclamations, though it seemed hopeless. One group, however, was more than intensified to take the time to be with Ganondorf, they were a group of all the races together and they loved their god, Ganondorf.

Since the time that the world had fallen to Ganon's hands, the people had denounced the Goddesses--though never tore the temples down since that was where the generals resided as their homes in each area. Ganondorf had proclaimed himself a god; so that in turn made a religion start and eventually the people seemed to be excepting his religion. These were only a select few, more than 5,000 of the population, most were bent on their anger for killing, and just accepted them as their leader. A forceful dictator, though nevertheless he was a leader, he ran the country badly, though he did do it an no one ever died from starvation--unless they didn't work, and when those were gone, the bums learned to work. Rebellion seemed impossible, they knew that, and as the years began to pass, the more desperate the people became for help, there seemed to be none around.

A new time age was adapted also, it was called A.G, which stood for the years after Ganondorf had taken rule, and would stay in place, from the old time age that was intact. Another new term that had come was B.G., which stood for the time Before Ganondorf, one that the King himself had heard and decided to keep. The old one was A.H., which stood between the time that the Hylians took rule, or After Hylian, was disbanded, simply because it no longer remained. No one remembers the time periods before the ancient Hylians took the place on the board; it was lost in the scrolls from old wars where the old lands were burnt. Whatever it meant, some called it the time after the Goddesses created the Earth, because before those three beauties, the world had not existed.

It was a hellish place, there was murder, there was robbery, there was rape, there were all sorts of things, and they were left alone, since it was Ganon. His mind saw that this was fit, it was the way of the Gerudo, except no one stole from the Gerudo, and he or she were the ruling race and treated almost as highly as he was. If anyone killed a Gerudo, so help him or her, they were tortured and tortured from an inch of their life, eventually put out of their mercy. There was no law enforcement, unless you messed with Ganondorf and then you were killed for that crime, he was the god and you mustn't touch him. That was the only rule, besides that, you could whatever you wanted in this place and be let off Scot-free, they're no rule in this new land.

Most left the country, there were several entrances out of Death Mountain (the mountain surrounded the entire land of Hyrule, other countries were out.) This was what they did for the first few months, until the volcanoes around the entrances suddenly erupted and caused all of the entrances to close up. Other places, where there were entrances, but no volcanoes were covered with either rockslides or huge boulders that were held in tact. Most suspected it was Ganondorf, who knew what powers those triangles had granted him, he probably could make the lands blow up and rockslides appear. Near those hollow spots guards were posted and ordered to shoot anyone who would try to escape, this land was his and so he was not letting anyone leave.

The land remained this way for several years, the people had nothing to do except pray, pray that somehow a god or another being would appear. Much search was done and the old books on this land came intact, many seeing that the prophecy from the pasts were coming true. It seemed strange, but the people followed the ways, announcing the Goddesses back into their lives, without Ganondorf knowing about it, and prayed. They prayed that the Hero of Time would come, that he would take away this evil and shine in a New Kingdom, a better one where the Triforce was not feared, but rejoiced. Of course, most knew in their mind that this might never happen, though they never gave up and it took seven years of praying, but it worked--the Hero of Time appeared.


End file.
